Nancy Pelosi deserves the applause of the free world

“Nancy Pelosi deserves the applause of the free world. Every democrat in every democracy should reflect on her example and consider how they too might support Taiwan,” wrote leading human rights campaigner Benedict Rogers in the UK’s Daily Telegraph last week.

Taiwan is an island off the southeast coast of mainland China that has functioned independently since the end of the Chinese Civil War between the Republic of China and the Chinese Communists Party (CCP) ending some 70 years ago. Taiwan has never been governed by the CCP. The people of Taiwan are free and happy and have no interest in being controlled by anyone other than themselves.

Despite this, the communist government in Beijing continues to threaten and intimidate them, most recently following the visit of the US secretary of state.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking in the Presidential Office in Taipei. Photo: AFP /TAIWAN’S PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE

The ambassador of Communist China in Malta says “it is the firm commitment of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people to resolutely safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity”, yet, the fact that the people of Taiwan have no interest in being controlled by his unelected government is ignored. And how is the CCP caring for its own people in mainland China? Well, President Joe Biden, the British, Canadian, Dutch and Lithuanian parliaments have all declared that China is committing a genocide on the Uyghur people in northwest China.

Other parliaments have condemned their treatment as “severe human rights abuses” and “crimes against humanity”. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others charge the Chinese Communist Party with keeping political prisoners, torture, extrajudicial executions and forced abortion and sterilisation. This is to say nothing of China’s recent crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, including the imprisonment of pro-democracy elected parliamentarians.

So, maybe, the ambassador might like to consider that if one’s options are to be part of a functioning democracy, where human rights and freedoms are protected, or to be part of a country where they are not and,  instead, there is an ongoing genocide, the choice is likely to be an easy one.

However, I suppose the ambassador can’t do much else and the more evident the truth becomes, the louder and more pitifully he will shout. 

Malta has much in common with the good people of Taiwan.   Like us, they are determined, freedom loving and won’t be told what to do by anyone, even those bigger than they are.

How about the government of Malta answers Rogers’s call to consider how it might support Taiwan by congratulating Pelosi on her visit to Taiwan  and in so doing make the simple point to Communist China that Malta stands on the side of freedom and democracy, not genocide and autocracy?

Anton de Piro – Valletta

Loud music

Playing of loud music in restaurants and cafes is a sign of the immaturity of the local hospitality industry. Equivalent dining establishments in France, Italy, the UK and elsewhere do not blast customers – many of whom are older – with moronic teenage music designed to keep the staff happy. Many hotels are also guilty. It is time the hospitality industry simply grew up.

I do not eat out any more for this reason. Nor would I recommend staying in Valletta to any prospective visitor.

Nicholas Steed – St Julian’s

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