Photo caption misleading
It is unfortunate that a recent Supreme Court ruling seems to characterize Su Beng (史明) as a man of violent actions (“Court upholds ruling on Su Beng,” Oct. 3, page 3).
“The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that found independence activist Su Beng guilty of using violence or threatening behavior at a public gathering and other crimes in a 2005 protest against then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan’s (連戰) visit to China,” your article says.
What I’d like to comment on is the photograph that accompanies the article. Its caption reads: “Veteran independence activist Su Beng waves a stick inside Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on April 26, 2005, during a protest against then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan’s visit to China.”
Look closely at the photograph and you will see that Su is waving the cane he uses to walk with, not a stick, which could be misconstrued to be a weapon.
FELICIA C. LIN
New York
Jordan deserves latest honor
As an enthusiastic fan of Michael Jordan and a basketball lover, I admire Jordan’s paramount achievements in basketball. Many people might know his name without being familiar with his achievements on the court.
As a six-time NBA champion, a five-time league Most Valuable Player and a ten-time scoring champ, Jordan also led the US team to Olympic golds in 1992 and 1996.
With these unprecedented accomplishments, Jordan is a legend in the world of basketball. His amazing skills and powerful slam dunk always thrilled spectators — including me, of course.
Every time I watch one of his games, I can’t take my eyes from his smooth movements and airy jumps long enough to watch the other players.
Watching him play is amazing. Of course, his teammates and coach, Phil Jackson, and the great support he received from his family also played a role in his achievements.
Although he is retired now, he remains humble and continues to dedicate his life to basketball.
He has become the boss of the Charlotte Bobcats and is coaching his son to become a wonderful player.
Looking back on Jordan’s achievements, I believe no one in the NBA can break his records — not even Kobe Bryant or Lebron James.
Now Jordan has been honored by the basketball Hall of Fame (“Jordan receives yet another honor: Hall of Fame entry,” Sept. 12, page 19).
This is yet another great moment for him. He has set many great goals for young basketball players to aspire to and basketball lovers to admire.
STANLEY PENG
Taipei
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017