What use is investigation?
I found Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang’s (羅智強) statements about the missing documents that compelled 34 interested global citizens to issue a group statement calling the KMT’s handling of the case a “political ploy” quite interesting (“Official hits back at academics’ letter,” April 12, page 1).
According to the article Lo said that “they [the current government] were not aware of any missing documents” at the time of the handover from the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to the incoming administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
So, if they were not aware at the time of the handover, doesn’t that possibly mean that the documents became “missing” after the handover, instead of before it? If the Ma administration was unaware at the time, as they seem to be pretty much all the time, then what can an investigation discover?
ERIC MOORE
Greater Kaohsiung
Taiwan needs to go green
One lesson we can learn from the recent disasters in Japan is that humans, no matter how sophisticated their civilization, still live at the mercy of nature.
The enormous force of earthquakes, tsunamis or nuclear power are simply too overwhelming for humans to rein in. What happened at Fukushima and Chernobyl are apocalyptic signs. They remind us that man cannot and should not play God and tinker with forces of that magnitude.
Unlike earthquakes and tsunamis, which unleash their power instantly and cause tremendous visible damage right away, the release of radiation is slow and invisible and could harm people for thousands of years to come.
Like Japan, Taiwan is situated on geological fault lines. Its nuclear reactors are considered to be some of the most dangerous in the world. A disaster on the scale of that at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant would cripple Taiwan, a price the 23 million people of Taiwan cannot afford.
Taiwan’s best bet is to decommission its nuclear plants and use alternative energy sources. Likewise, the proposed petrochemical plant in central Taiwan would only aggravate environmental deterioration, polluting air and water and, in the long run, increasing the toll on the nation’s health.
The choice for Taiwan is clear — a green island, sustainable for future generations.
YANG JI-CHARNG
Ohio
Appreciating Hoklo
The Taiwanese language (also known as Hoklo) has been used in Taiwan for hundreds of years. It has many unique and interesting features.
A syllable can be used without a vowel (ng, “yellow”). The letter “n” has two sounds, n and nn (tsin, “true” and tsinn, “money”). The tone for the word “mister” (siansinn) is changed when a surname is added. Taiwanese songs are composites of musical and linguistic tones.
Guan, lin and yin are the plural forms of gua (“I”), li (“you”) and yi (“he”), formed by adding “n.” In Taiwanese, “a” is used in front and/or at the end of a noun to represent “lovely” or “little” (Ama, “Grandma,” kaua, “little dog”). It might indicate contempt instead, depending on the context.
An adjective is emphasized by repeating itself (sng, “sour”; sngsng, “very sour”; sngsngsng, “extremely sour”) or by using a repeated adverb (sui tangtang, “very beautiful”; ling, kiki, “very cold”). “Not a half” is used to emphasize “none” (bo puann lang, “not a half person”). Eyes are counted in “lui” like flowers, indicating the beauty of eyes.
Taiwanese has local accents, such as northern and southern. In Yilan and Lotong, rice and egg are pronounced as puinn and nuinn instead of penn and nenn, respectively.
As in English, “have” (u) plus a past participle is used to express a present perfect tense (u lai, “have come”). Taiwanese living in the US often say no car is like no feet — “feet” is pronounced “car” in Taiwanese.
The English “here” means “there” (hia) in Taiwanese. Santa Claus greets people in Taiwanese “Ho, Ho, Ho!” (Good, Good, Good!), and his beard is extremely beardy (hohoho in Taiwanese).
CHARLES HONG
Columbus, Ohio
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
US President Donald Trump’s second administration has gotten off to a fast start with a blizzard of initiatives focused on domestic commitments made during his campaign. His tariff-based approach to re-ordering global trade in a manner more favorable to the United States appears to be in its infancy, but the significant scale and scope are undeniable. That said, while China looms largest on the list of national security challenges, to date we have heard little from the administration, bar the 10 percent tariffs directed at China, on specific priorities vis-a-vis China. The Congressional hearings for President Trump’s cabinet have, so far,
US political scientist Francis Fukuyama, during an interview with the UK’s Times Radio, reacted to US President Donald Trump’s overturning of decades of US foreign policy by saying that “the chance for serious instability is very great.” That is something of an understatement. Fukuyama said that Trump’s apparent moves to expand US territory and that he “seems to be actively siding with” authoritarian states is concerning, not just for Europe, but also for Taiwan. He said that “if I were China I would see this as a golden opportunity” to annex Taiwan, and that every European country needs to think
For years, the use of insecure smart home appliances and other Internet-connected devices has resulted in personal data leaks. Many smart devices require users’ location, contact details or access to cameras and microphones to set up, which expose people’s personal information, but are unnecessary to use the product. As a result, data breaches and security incidents continue to emerge worldwide through smartphone apps, smart speakers, TVs, air fryers and robot vacuums. Last week, another major data breach was added to the list: Mars Hydro, a Chinese company that makes Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as LED grow lights and the
RSS