Missing the point
Arron Beck’s response to my article makes no attempt to address my essential point — that is, linguistic expertise rather than being a native speaker needs to be part of Taiwan’s efforts to improve the quality of its English language output (Letters, May 5, page 8 and “Experts better than native speakers,” April 29, page 8).
Beck resorts simply to abuse (“Mr know-it-all”), pedantry (mailbag/mailbox), politics (Chinese/Taiwanese) and arrogance, not to mention hypocrisy (“I give you a failing grade, sir”). What has he got against experts?
The views expressed in my article reflected my experience of writing, editing and translating in Taiwan throughout the best part of the past 20 years. The fact that debate continues about how to address Taiwan’s English-language woes suggests that throwing legions of native-English-speaking non-experts at the problem is no solution at all. Beck’s flaunted capacity for missing the point simply underscores that.
MARK RAWSON
Taipei
Don’t destroy wetlands
The movement for preserving the mangrove wetlands at Jhuwei (竹圍) on the banks of the Tamsui River (淡水河) began in the 1980s. As a result of a housing construction project, conservationists and academics fought to save the mangroves. They stopped the project and in the end, the wetlands were made into a nature reserve by the government.
In 1997, the first proposal for the Danbei expressway (a proposed 4.7km expressway along the north bank of the Tamsui River) alarmed people who care about the mangroves. Many groups, including environmental, cultural and community organizations, formed an organization to protect the Tamsui River.
They made posters, held forums, put on concerts and visited legislators, as well as the Taipei county commissioner. In 2000, an environmental impact assessment ruled against the project. The mangroves were saved again.
The former Taipei County government proposed a shorter version of the expressway in 2008. Once again, the mangroves were in danger. I joined the anti-Danbei movement last year and since then I have been working together with local citizens and environmental organizations.
In every environmental impact assessment review meeting by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Taipei County and its successor, New Taipei City (新北市), have insisted that the expressway would not infringe on the Tamsui River Mangrove Nature Reserve.
The third preliminary review meeting was on April 15. One week before the meeting, a document provided by the New Taipei City Government said that it completed a scene survey with the Forestry Bureau, which confirmed that the planned expressway would not be located within the nature reserve.
However, when we went to the places they surveyed, we found that one of the road stakes was 60cm inside the land boundary stake of the nature reserve.
At the April 15 meeting, the Forestry Bureau admitted after our persistent inquiries that one of the road stakes was indeed within the nature reserve. The city government gave several explanations about the stakes. These explanations were conflicting and none of them clarified the issue. With such a big problem, the meeting should have been halted.
However, it continued and the result of the preliminary review was a “conditional pass.” The EPA is helping the city pave a road into the mangrove wetlands.
People have recognized the value of wetlands in the face of scientific progress and environmental crises for more than 30 years. It is ridiculous to destroy wetlands that have been protected for 30 years.
The Danbei expressway should be canceled, either through the city’s withdrawal of the plan or the EPA’s rejection of the project during the environmental impact assessment committee’s formal review. Otherwise, we will have to apologize to everyone who has helped protect the wetlands and we will be sorry for our loss.
CHUNG-MING WANG
New Taipei City
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
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
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
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS