Cartoon not discriminatory
Recently, a Taoyuan high-school student’s cartoon titled The Emperor’s Clause won a special prize at the National Student Art Competition. The cartoon depicted a pedestrian as an emperor crossing the street slowly, and it drew criticism from Internet celebrity Cheap, who accused the artwork of discriminating against disadvantaged pedestrians and even demanded that the organizers take back the prize. When some Internet users expressed different views, Cheap replied: “I dare you to mock the indigenous peoples, homosexuals and women’s rights in the name of freedom of creation.”
This has now turned a simple art competition into a complex social issue.
It all started with a CNN report last year titled: “Taiwan’s ‘living hell’ traffic is a tourism problem, say critics.” To rid Taiwan of this bad reputation, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications increased the penalty for not giving way to pedestrians to NT$6,000, with a demerit of three points from June 31. A driver accumulating 12 points in a year will have their driver’s license suspended for two months and be required to take a road safety course.
The rule has been implemented for more than five months and it has been quite effective. Drivers are giving way to pedestrians, although we still occasionally see pedestrians being hesitant about crossing the road, or some looking at their cellphones or walking slowly on the crosswalk, which makes drivers waiting to turn feel anxious as the traffic light is about to turn red.
As a driver and pedestrian myself, I found the cartoon funny, as I am sure many others did. Most people would not actually plod over crossings accompanied by a tortoise as in the cartoon. Few, I am sure, would feel offended or discriminated against. They would simply see the funny side.
The point of the cartoon is to call on pedestrians and drivers to respect each other. There is no intended malice or discrimination.
One can compare this with comments made a few days ago by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), who said: “People in Taipei like to quarrel, while people in the south like to fight.”
I was born in southern Taiwan but grew up in Taipei. I do consider Jaw’s words discriminatory.
Hsieh Chih-chieh
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
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