Service dog discrimination
I am an American living and working in Taiwan. I had a traumatic experience 17 years ago that keeps me up at night, causes random flashbacks and gives me nightmares. I had not really talked about it to anyone for years for fear that people would think I am weak. I finally spoke with a doctor here in Taiwan and he diagnosed me with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
On Sunday at 9:45am, I was trying to ride the airport MRT, getting on at the Linkou Station in New Taipei City with my service dog. However, the staff at the turnstile told me my dog had to be in a bag with her head completely zipped in.
I need my service dog to be with me in the event I have flashbacks or panic attacks. She needs to be able to perform her duties to comfort me and calm me down. I showed a worker my medical certificate for my diagnosis of PTSD and my dog’s certification for intensive psychiatric service dog training. He made a call, presumably to his boss, but they still would not let me on with my service dog.
I find this to be discriminatory against people with mental health disabilities and people with disabilities in general. Is a blind person allowed to have their service dog guide them to an elevator or escalator and into the train, or must they bump into everything and trip down stairs trying to find the train?
I find it appalling to know that whoever is in charge made this policy of not allowing people with disabilities to ride the MRT without their service animals being able to fully perform their duties. It is discriminatory and must change to be fair for all people.
Rich Glotzbach
Taipei
The return of US president-elect Donald Trump to the White House has injected a new wave of anxiety across the Taiwan Strait. For Taiwan, an island whose very survival depends on the delicate and strategic support from the US, Trump’s election victory raises a cascade of questions and fears about what lies ahead. His approach to international relations — grounded in transactional and unpredictable policies — poses unique risks to Taiwan’s stability, economic prosperity and geopolitical standing. Trump’s first term left a complicated legacy in the region. On the one hand, his administration ramped up arms sales to Taiwan and sanctioned
The Taiwanese have proven to be resilient in the face of disasters and they have resisted continuing attempts to subordinate Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Nonetheless, the Taiwanese can and should do more to become even more resilient and to be better prepared for resistance should the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) try to annex Taiwan. President William Lai (賴清德) argues that the Taiwanese should determine their own fate. This position continues the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) tradition of opposing the CCP’s annexation of Taiwan. Lai challenges the CCP’s narrative by stating that Taiwan is not subordinate to the
US president-elect Donald Trump is to return to the White House in January, but his second term would surely be different from the first. His Cabinet would not include former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former US national security adviser John Bolton, both outspoken supporters of Taiwan. Trump is expected to implement a transactionalist approach to Taiwan, including measures such as demanding that Taiwan pay a high “protection fee” or requiring that Taiwan’s military spending amount to at least 10 percent of its GDP. However, if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) invades Taiwan, it is doubtful that Trump would dispatch
World leaders are preparing themselves for a second Donald Trump presidency. Some leaders know more or less where he stands: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy knows that a difficult negotiation process is about to be forced on his country, and the leaders of NATO countries would be well aware of being complacent about US military support with Trump in power. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would likely be feeling relief as the constraints placed on him by the US President Joe Biden administration would finally be released. However, for President William Lai (賴清德) the calculation is not simple. Trump has surrounded himself
RSS