Media maggots hit new low
The desperation of Taiwan has sunk to a new low. Not only are the last 20-odd years of democratization being thrown on the scrap heap by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) media clout and island-wide patronage, but now the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is also seemingly falling over itself to contribute to this nation’s complete subjugation.
Notwithstanding the myriad falsehoods and pretentious “Taiwanese” claims of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the DPP is also losing its grip on reality. Instead of challenging the KMT elite on substantive topics, the DPP continues to focus on non-issues that actually serve to denigrate the past and invite the KMT overlords to use their media might to erase the real injustices from history.
This is an absolute tragedy for a people with such a rich and meaningful history of their own. The most recent example is the pathetic DPP call for the release of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) (“DPP calls for release of Chen,” June 26, page 1). It was pathetic, because instead of highlighting the complete prejudice and oppression of the whole process and their ramifications, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) sees fit to fuel the fire of those KMT media bandits whose careers revolve around the daily blurring and obscuring of any issues of substance.
How idiotic to state in this context that Chen has “disappointed the public” and “failed to keep his family in line.”
What a load of nonsense. The proven facts to date are that after two failed attempts, the KMT summarily changed judges and have since kept the former president in incarceration without the slightest regard for fairness and justice.
This blatant political vendetta has brought the whole Republic of China judicial system into international disrepute and drawn much derision from legal experts, but Taiwanese themselves remain for the most part oblivious — for lamentably obvious reasons.
It is incumbent on the DPP to start focusing on the huge number of genuine matters of concern for authentic Taiwanese before it’s too late, and in doing so, not give unnecessary and unfounded credence to the spewings of those media maggots whose only goal is to make real issues farcical in order to preserve and entrench their and their masters’ unjust elitist status.
DAVID KAY
Taipei
Taiwan’s soul may be lost
An extremely important meeting of the Kaohsiung City Council’s Disciplinary Committee was scheduled to convene on Monday, April 20, at 3pm to discuss the case of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung City Councilor Huang Shao-ting (黃紹庭) who, like his nefarious and now infamous cohort former KMT legislator Diane Lee (李慶安), is alleged to possess dual citizenship — a felonious offense under Taiwan’s own Nationality Act (國籍法).
But to my great chagrin, and to the chagrin of many others, the meeting scheduled for April 20 had to be canceled when only two of the seven members on the Disciplinary Committee bothered to show up. More than two-thirds of the members boycotted the meeting, thus forcing its cancelation.
In my view, this constitutes a gross dereliction of duty. The meeting scheduled for April 20 was an extremely important one, the first meeting of its kind to have been scheduled in nearly a quarter of a century.
I can only wonder if by any chance the five members who failed to show up were KMT members, as are Lee and Huang.
The Taipei Times reported that the meeting of Kaohsiung City’s Disciplinary Committee hearing Huang’s case would have to be rescheduled for a later date (“Kaohsiung to reschedule meeting on citizenship row,” April 28, page 3).
Lamentably, no specific or precise date was given, only that it would hopefully be some time “later.”
More than two months have passed, but astonishingly enough, no one on this Disciplinary Committee has been able to reschedule a suitable date.
I find this snail’s pace all the more astounding when contrasted with the vigor and ardor exemplified by the opponents of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Chen is incarcerated in a cell without even the benefit of a proper mattress.
His daughter is being tormented and humiliated to the point where her psychological welfare may be at risk. And now even her six-year-old son is the victim of an organized hate campaign. It seems that some people will not be satisfied until Chen and his entire family are destroyed.
Meanwhile, Lee and Huang act with impunity and go their merry way, knowing that their power, wealth and privileged status will protect them.
My advice to Taiwan is that the nation pay attention to its soul, because it in danger of being lost.
MICHAEL SCANLON
Connecticut, USA
Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention. If it makes headlines, it is because China wants to invade. Yet, those who find their way here by some twist of fate often fall in love. If you ask them why, some cite numbers showing it is one of the freest and safest countries in the world. Others talk about something harder to name: The quiet order of queues, the shared umbrellas for anyone caught in the rain, the way people stand so elderly riders can sit, the
Taiwan’s fall would be “a disaster for American interests,” US President Donald Trump’s nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy Elbridge Colby said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday last week, as he warned of the “dramatic deterioration of military balance” in the western Pacific. The Republic of China (Taiwan) is indeed facing a unique and acute threat from the Chinese Communist Party’s rising military adventurism, which is why Taiwan has been bolstering its defenses. As US Senator Tom Cotton rightly pointed out in the same hearing, “[although] Taiwan’s defense spending is still inadequate ... [it] has been trending upwards
Small and medium enterprises make up the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, yet large corporations such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) play a crucial role in shaping its industrial structure, economic development and global standing. The company reported a record net profit of NT$374.68 billion (US$11.41 billion) for the fourth quarter last year, a 57 percent year-on-year increase, with revenue reaching NT$868.46 billion, a 39 percent increase. Taiwan’s GDP last year was about NT$24.62 trillion, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, meaning TSMC’s quarterly revenue alone accounted for about 3.5 percent of Taiwan’s GDP last year, with the company’s
In an eloquently written piece published on Sunday, French-Taiwanese education and policy consultant Ninon Godefroy presents an interesting take on the Taiwanese character, as viewed from the eyes of an — at least partial — outsider. She muses that the non-assuming and quiet efficiency of a particularly Taiwanese approach to life and work is behind the global success stories of two very different Taiwanese institutions: Din Tai Fung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). Godefroy said that it is this “humble” approach that endears the nation to visitors, over and above any big ticket attractions that other countries may have
RSS