South Korea is going to set a higher minimum wage for low‑paid migrant workers like shipbuilding workers, to push up foreign worker wages in order to protect the wage levels of South Korean workers. Taiwan should do the same to protect Taiwan's workers.
www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/g...
South Korea is using the Iran war to accelerate its transition into renewable energy and to move towards greater energy self-sufficiency on safer energy sources. Taiwan needs to do the same.
韓國正利用伊朗戰爭，加速推動再生能源轉型，並透過更安全的能源來邁向更高的能源自給率。台灣也必須這麼做。
www.cnbc.com/2026/04/16/i...
Also, it's not really a big deal in Taiwan that an opposition leader from Taiwan met with Xi Jinping, because who celebrates your own countryman shaking hands with a dictator who wants to colonize your country and even said he wouldn't renounce the use of force to do so?
And if we think one country waging war is ok, but not the other, then it's not war we are against.
If we truly believe in protecting the international order but has no issue with China invading Taiwan, then there'll be no international order to speak of, and that's reality.
Which warmonger admits that they are the ones waging a war. Of course China wouldn't admit it's invading another country.
War is wrong whether it's Israel against Palestine, US against Iran, Iran against Middle East countries, Russia against Ukraine, or China against Taiwan.
Taiwan is not part of and is not ruled by China. And no matter what a dictator says, it doesn't change the reality of things.
Of course a warmonger who wants to colonize another country will say that that country is the "culprit in undermining peace".
www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
In part 2 of this new article, I write that Taiwan's wages are higher than China and housing prices are lower, giving Taiwanese higher purchasing powers. Work hours are also shorter. For younger workers and parents, Taiwan's work benefits are better too.
ketagalanmedia.com/2026/03/16/a...
In part 2 of this new article, I write that Taiwan's wages are higher than China and housing prices are lower, giving Taiwanese higher purchasing powers. Work hours are also shorter. For younger workers and parents, Taiwan's work benefits are better too.
ketagalanmedia.com/2026/03/16/a...
In this new article, I write that while China's first-tier cities create the illusion that China is doing economically better because of its shiny buildings, China's workers on the whole still earn lower wages than Taiwan and incomes are more unequal.
ketagalanmedia.com/2026/03/16/a...
In this new article, I write that while China's first-tier cities create the illusion that China is doing economically better because of its shiny buildings, China's workers on the whole still earn lower wages than Taiwan and incomes are more unequal.
ketagalanmedia.com/2026/03/16/a...
Another happy weekend with partner's nephews
In the Iran war, Americans recognize the current US regime as 'bad' for unilaterally starting a war, but why do some of them not recognize the oppressive Iranian regime as 'bad', and even try to legitimize it, to delegitimize US's attacks? Chanced upon this helpful study. /1
Two previous threads I wrote in the last few days on the same question—on how we are perceiving human rights regarding the war in the Middle East:
bsky.app/profile/royn...
bsky.app/profile/royn...
/12
For me, the moral discourse around US's attacks on Iran should refocus on our own hypocrisy and a lack of a truly universal system to protect human rights. But what it has only shown is our moral discourse has always been selfish—about protecting our own beliefs over others. /11
So whose rights are we feeling aggrieved for? For individuals or regimes? But do regimes deserves rights when they do not represent their citizens and even oppress them? And if global systems are structured around regimes, can they truly protect individual rights? /10
But realistically, given the existence of authoritarian regimes who are happy to disregard the rights of their own citizens while claiming to support the rules-based system, we were just kicking the problem down the road. When China attacks Taiwan, it'll be a bigger question. /9
But I do not have an answer. The larger question for me is that US's attacks on Iran and its moralization exposes the hypocrisy that the so-called international rules-based order is riddled with holes which we have been happy to ignore, because we aren't affected. /8
When we perceive US's attacks on a right and wrong framework, which framework are we using when right and wrong differs based on who is viewing the attacks, in the face of a lack of a truly rules-based system that can provide protection on one universal right-wrong alignment. /7
US's unilateral attacks against Iran is wrong (even on the excuses of helping the Iranians), but there's simply no system that adjudicates on the wrongdoings of the Iranian regime & then deliberate sanctioned action to take them out, to stop their oppression against Iranians. /6
Beyond what is right or wrong, the deeper question is, why are we led to this situation today? We were supposed to have an international rules-based system, but do we really? For Iranians living under oppression, the international system has abandoned them. /5
It feels like the current war in the Middle East is a perfect moral dilemma. If we take a firm stance against US action in Iran, do we deny the rights of oppressed Iranians? If we do not reject US action because many Iranians find reprieve, are we supporting US tyranny too? /4
I feel conflicted because there are many bad actors (the regimes in US, Israel, Iran), and many victims (Americans who do not want another war, Iranians oppressed by their own regime, Israelis oppressed by Iranians, Palestinians oppressed by Israelis). What is right or wrong? /3
Many Americans feel victimized by their current regime, but does this understanding of victimization extend to citizens in other countries, that Iranians living under a less democratic regime are necessarily more victimized and face higher possibility of unjust death. /2
In the Iran war, Americans recognize the current US regime as 'bad' for unilaterally starting a war, but why do some of them not recognize the oppressive Iranian regime as 'bad', and even try to legitimize it, to delegitimize US's attacks? Chanced upon this helpful study. /1
But I do not have an answer. What I know is, when we choose to insist on our human rights position and undoubtedly denying others, we are ourselves oppressors imposing our rights on others. And until we can be honest with ourselves, we cannot forge a new human rights pathway.
In this new world, we need to learn nuance, acknowledge different perspectives and realities, understand that while advocating for human rights means resisting power to some extent, the existence of authoritarian powers mean we cannot divorce them from our realities.
Perhaps another layer of the problem is social media which creates the illusion that we are living in the same world, where rights advocated in one society can be advocated in the same form in others, & where there's little room for nuance & where dominant views take precedence.
We had a window opportunity when authoritarianism was declining but it may perhaps be too late and we are reverting back to the world of the old. Yes, human rights are important, but can we advocate for it while understanding reality and respecting those in different realities?
Living in Taiwan, I've learnt that as long as there are authoritarian regimes, there's violence and there's war, and so, violence against one another is a reality. And we can be anti-war, but if we do not advocate the eradication of these regimes, war will never stop.
