Tibetans hail new US legislation
Tibetans hail new US legislationBy Tenzing DhamdulUS President Joe Biden signed the Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, also known as the Resolve Tibet Act, into law on July 12. However, he made sure to note in his signed statement that the US recognizes Tibet (as referenced in the act) as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Tibetans throughout the world welcomed the act and celebrated it. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the US for its backing of Tibet even before the Resolve Tibet Act was signed into law. The US law on Tibet comes at a time when there are growing ties between the Tibetans and Taiwan.
Source:Taipei Times
July 31, 2024 21:46 UTC
Will artificial intelligence put an end to money?
Will artificial intelligence put an end to money? However, the situation will be very different if we someday live in a world governed by an artificial intelligence (AI) endowed with complete information and infinite processing capabilities. We need money because we live in a market economy, not a preprogrammed world. Do we still need money? This vision of “techno-socialism” is very far from the model of a decentralized, free society.
Source:Taipei Times
July 31, 2024 17:37 UTC
TPP has no respect for the law and separation
TPP has no respect for the law and separationBy Linus Chiou 邱士哲The Constitutional Court’s temporary injunction said that 12 sections of the recently passed legislature reform laws, backed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), were urgent threats to governance. Following the court’s decision, the KMT caucus said that “judicial independence has died.” Many TPP supporters also echoed similar sentiments. Largely failing to address the constitutionality of the reforms, the KMT and the TPP have chosen the low road, ie, when in doubt, blame the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Moreover, following Ann Kao’s (高虹安) sentencing for corruption, the TPP continues to mount a vapid defense of the once-promising political star. Shifting the blame and the goalposts are tactics that the TPP uses when rulings are not in its favor.
Source:Taipei Times
July 30, 2024 18:19 UTC
India PM Modi’s budget has a large credibility gap
India PM Modi’s budget has a large credibility gapBy Mihir Sharma / Bloomberg OpinionTen years after he was first elected India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi might finally have diagnosed why India’s growth, while better than in many countries, has not taken off the way his supporters expected in 2014. The federal budget that Indian Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman announced earlier this week is to serve as the major economic policy road map for the year. It wisely focused on three issues: debt, factor markets such as land and labor, and jobs. However, while Modi has stored up credibility as a fiscal hawk, he has none left as a reformer. Modi’s diagnosis of what has gone wrong with India’s growth has come 10 years too late.
Source:Taipei Times
July 30, 2024 18:18 UTC
It is time to give China’s muscle-flexing a new name
Gray zone activities refer to provocative actions that are not so egregious they would demand a warlike response, but neither are they of a peaceful nature. Bringing clarity to China’s gray zone activities would dispel the “ambiguity” around the term itself, Australian think tank the Lowy Institute says. The phrase “gray zone” is open to misinterpretation, and allows for a degree of doubt regarding Beijing’s original intentions, it says. It is not just the Philippines that has been the target of China’s coercive behavior. Manila, sensing the power of the name game, also decided to use its own for the parts of the South China Sea it claims.
Source:Taipei Times
July 30, 2024 18:18 UTC
China an ‘important interlocutor,’ Meloni tells Xi
China an ‘important interlocutor,’ Meloni tells XiAFP, BEIJINGItalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni yesterday hailed China as an “important interlocutor” in managing global tensions as she met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, walks into a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, front left, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing yesterday. Photo: EPA-EFE“There is growing insecurity at an international level and I think that China is inevitably a very important interlocutor to address all these dynamics,” Meloni told Xi. Meloni’s administration withdrew from the Belt and Road Initiative in December last year, having been the only G7 nation to sign up. Meloni’s administration has since sought to mend Italy’s ties with China, Italy’s second-largest non-EU trading partner after the US.
Source:Taipei Times
July 30, 2024 03:40 UTC
Bangladesh youth uprising echoes the Arab Spring protests
Bangladesh youth uprising echoes the Arab Spring protestsBy M. Niaz AsadullahIn recent weeks, the Bangladeshi government has cracked down violently on students demanding equitable access to coveted government jobs amid an unemployment crisis. Bangladesh’s youth uprising, with its echoes of the Arab Spring, illustrates how corruption, cronyism and inequality tend to accompany GDP growth, especially under an increasingly authoritarian regime. However, Bangladesh’s High Court in June reinstated the controversial job quota system, sparking widespread protests. Despite being temporarily quelled, the youth protests could still expand into a wider anti-government movement. Bangladesh has a rich history of youth protests, which played a crucial role in laying the foundation for the country’s independence in 1971.
Source:Taipei Times
July 29, 2024 17:26 UTC
EDITORIAL: Lessons from alleged abuse case
EDITORIAL: Lessons from alleged abuse caseA preschool teacher in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) was indicted in August last year on charges of alleged sexual assault and offenses of forced obscenity against six girls. Parents reported the first suspected case to the authorities in July 2022. After more parents accused him of sexual abuse, prosecutors indicted and detained Mao in July last year — a year after the first case was reported. There has been a public outcry, because the Taipei City Government seemed to have quickly dismissed the case in 2022, while prosecutors were still investigating it, allowing Mao to continue teaching. Moreover, the case is also a reminder for parents and schools to reconsider when they should start teaching children about the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching to prevent sexual abuse.
Source:Taipei Times
July 29, 2024 03:47 UTC
Farming losses from typhoon reach NT$1.8bn
Farming losses from typhoon reach NT$1.8bnTHE AFTERMATH: Typhoon Gaemi had stranded eight cargo ships, halted Alishan railway operations, and left 10 people dead, two missing and 895 injured in its wakeStaff Writer, with CNAAgricultural losses in Taiwan caused by Typhoon Gaemi totaled approximately NT$1.8 billion (US$54.83 million) as of 11am yesterday, Ministry of Agriculture statistics showed. The three administrative areas that sustained the greatest losses were Pingtung County at NT$386 million, Chiayi County at NT$384 million and Yunlin County at NT$368 million, the data showed. A taro field devastated by Typhoon Gaemi is pictured in Hualien County yesterday. The cargo ships ran aground along Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County coastlines, the CGA’s Southern Branch said. A chicken farm in Tainan flooded from torrential rain brought by Typhoon Gaemi is pictured in an undated photograph.
Source:Taipei Times
July 28, 2024 20:13 UTC
Gasoline and diesel prices to rise NT$0.3 per liter
Gasoline and diesel prices to rise NT$0.3 per literBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterDomestic fuel prices are to increase for a fourth consecutive week this week, with the retail price of 95-octane unleaded gasoline reaching the highest level in nine months. Gasoline and diesel prices are to rise NT$0.3 per liter this week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said in separate statements yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$29.8, NT$31.3 and NT$33.3 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively. Meanwhile, premium diesel is to cost NT$27.3 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.1 at Formosa pumps, the companies said. International oil prices fell earlier last week as investors expected geopolitical tensions to diminish in the Middle East, Formosa said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 28, 2024 20:11 UTC
KMT, TPP and the old party-state ideologies
KMT, TPP and the old party-state ideologiesBy Lee Min-yung 李敏勇Cursing, biting, blocking, kicking and grabbing... What has the Legislative Yuan become? The KMT and TPP seem to be intent on creating chaos. The TPP is also failing to live up to public expectations as a young upstart party and echoes the KMT, which has been haunted by the party-state ideology and has failed to reform itself. If we look at the forms and rituals of Taiwan’s political system, the Executive Yuan and Legislative Yuan are counterparts: The Executive Yuan proposes policy and budget plans to the Legislative Yuan, while the Legislative Yuan questions the Executive Yuan’s officials and reviews the budgets, thus forming a “ritual relationship” in politics. Regarding national governance, the Legislative Yuan’s counterpart is the Executive Yuan, in accordance with the constitution of the ROC since its establishment in China.
Source:Taipei Times
July 27, 2024 17:05 UTC
India needs to face up to its worrying junk food crisis
India needs to face up to its worrying junk food crisisBy Mihir Sharma / Bloomberg OpinionIndia is not the world’s healthiest country. That is a crisis — one that is set to grow worse as India becomes richer and more urban. At the same time, there is data suggesting junk food in India is worse than in many other countries, with higher levels of salt, sugar and saturated fats. More importantly, packaged food can be regulated, so people at least know what they are eating. As scientists said, that merely “helps the consumer choose the least unhealthy option among a host of unhealthy options.”Critics worry that India’s food regulators respond more readily to big food companies than to doctors.
Source:Taipei Times
July 27, 2024 17:05 UTC
TPP says ruling against Kao not proportionate
TPP says ruling against Kao not proportionateBy Lee Wen-hsin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taipei District Court’s ruling against Hsinchu Mayor Anne Kao (高虹安) was regrettable and highlighted the lack of proportionality in the justice system’s meting out of punishments for similar crimes, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) said yesterday. Kao was found guilty of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) and sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for corruption that involved misuse of public funds. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je, center, speaks to reporters in Taipei yesterday. Photo courtesy of the Taiwan People’s PartyFormerly an aide to business tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘), Kao joined the TPP and served as a legislator at-large from 2020 to 2022 before running for Hsinchu mayor. The judiciary should not have double standards and should investigate the other case to uphold the integrity of the law, the TPP said.
Source:Taipei Times
July 26, 2024 20:12 UTC
Pakistan using ‘terrorism’ to stay relevant, Modi says
Pakistan using ‘terrorism’ to stay relevant, Modi saysReuters, NEW DELHIPakistan is trying to stay relevant through “terrorism” and “proxy war,” but its “unholy plans” would never succeed, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said yesterday. Pakistan denies the accusations, saying it only provides diplomatic and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination in the Muslim-majority region. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at a ceremony at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass, India, yesterday. Photo: AFP / Indian Press Information BureauModi’s comments came at an event to mark the 25th anniversary of India’s short military conflict with Pakistan in the Himalayan region of Kargil. Earlier this year, Pakistan said there was credible evidence linking Indian agents to the killing of people on its soil — accusations that India termed “fake.”
Source:Taipei Times
July 26, 2024 20:12 UTC
EDITORIAL: Lai needs nimbler defense team
EDITORIAL: Lai needs nimbler defense teamWhen it comes to national security and foreign affairs, President William Lai (賴清德) has said he wants to maintain the same policies as his predecessor, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). The loss of a legislative majority aside, the regional geopolitical situation is in a continuous state of flux. Even if he says he would retain Tsai’s strategies, Lai must acknowledge that the geopolitical ground has shifted under his feet. Lai needs to address this situation both internationally and at home, and for this he requires a nimble foreign affairs and national security team with the ability to adjust policy and strategy to meet the ever-changing circumstances. This is why Lai needs to re-evaluate the strategy and sense of urgency in Taiwan’s war preparedness, in both the military and civil spheres.
Source:Taipei Times
July 26, 2024 03:47 UTC