Dai Suyama Tokyo, Japan
All countries–including Japan–have the right to defend themselves. But they also have an obligation to take responsibility for their wrongdoings. Japan cannot expand its military defense because it still doesn’t admit that its military committed horrible crimes against its Asian neighbors. The Japanese youth do not even know what their country did during World War II. What a shame. Let the youth learn about the past. Only then can the Asian countries trust Japan with a true military.
Nami Touhara Tokyo, Japan
The headline “smoke alarms” and the photo-caption “cold-war maneuvers” give false impressions of a Japanese Army threatening the world … again. Please represent the news fairly.
M. S. Ezure Yokohama, Japan
Just after I read your exciting article, our Self-Defense Forces failed to catch two disguised fishing boats that were spying along the Japanese coast. Since our Constitution declares that Japan should not use military power against other countries, we were restricted when trying to stop them. I believe the SDF soldiers did their best while still obeying our laws. But I’m sad that we Japanese cannot defend our nation. I’d like to ask the world to let Japan use military force in situations like this one. We do not want to be a big military power–we only want to defend ourselves.
Tetsuo Kurahashi Takasago, Japan
Even Japan’s younger generation, which once demanded peace and normal relations with countries like China and North Korea, now wants the policymakers to go for better defense planning. They are pointing to the changes in the international and regional environment. The Chinese use of the Taiwan Strait for their missile tests in 1995-96 is a serious concern to Japan, since it considers these waterways vital for its economic and military security. Although the majority of the Japanese would not like to have a U.S. security intelligence agreement imposed on them, the North Korea factor and China’s interest in becoming militarily competitive with Japan have forced them to adopt this new strategy.
Syed Altaf Ahmed Madras, India
Your special report “Smoke Alarms” seems to be based on pro-Washington sources. It looks like an agitation of Japanese (potential) militarism and an old-fashioned sales promotion for the American war industry. You write that Hiroshima is “a hotbed of zealous pacifism.” Hotbed? Hiroshima, together with Nagasaki, experienced hell on earth. Its citizens have therefore ardently sought lasting peace, and yes, they are zealous pacifists. To remain loyal to the Constitution, while facing “threats” from North Korea, Japan should establish diplomatic ties with North Korea and cooperate with South Korea toward a peaceful reunification of the peninsula. No weapons will be necessary. It would be great for the future of Asia–and mankind.
Noriyuki Aoki Osaka, Japan
Japan still has not come to terms with its past. The Ministry of Education does not educate its young people about the unsavory aspects of Japanese history. Meanwhile, Japanese politicians visit the Yasukuni and Meiji shrines to pay their respect to war criminals.
Don MacLaren Tokyo, Japan
There are limits even to what we Belgians may be held responsible for in this world. In your article “Forced to Walk the Plank,” on the 20 European commissioners who recently resigned due to corruption, Graham Mather, a British conservative M.E.P., speaks about a “Belgian culture” imposed on the EU community in Brussels (Europe, March 29). He explains that this means “a readiness to accept sloppy outcomes in matters of execution and administration, and a relaxed approach to financial standards and conflicts of interest.” This borders on prejudice. European countries should accept the fact that what they see, and don’t like, is their self-reflected image. Belgium–with its scandals as well as honest people–resembles the rest of Europe. Rene van Acker Lokichokio, Kenya
Europeans now see a nightmare coming true. The euro does not really take off. The megalomaniac bureaucracy is out of control, and Euroland’s common resources are left open for exploitation. Euroland’s Parliament seems to be manned with a blabbering crew easily manipulated by lobbyists, with little contact with the people paying their salary. Nationalistic regimes are operating on Euroland’s doorstep. Massacres and systematic ethnic cleansing are committed on a daily basis–and fought only by a flood of empty words. When real action is required, Europe is willing to fight–to the last American. For many years to come, it seems like we’ll still have to rely on America when words have to be transformed into action in defense of our basic values.
Erik G. Jacobsen Dalsgard, Eenmark
I read Pranay Gupte’s article “Water: Not a Drop to Drink,” about water shortages in the world, with interest (World View, March 29). Unfortunately, it’s true that many water-aid programs are unsuccessful. I have yet to see a project where the production of water from the hole is related to, and balanced with, the real reproduction capacity of the reservoir. We are using up the ground water available without thinking of the refilling–forgetting the common knowledge that nothing lasts forever. However, there are solutions, at least for the temperate coastal areas. I have developed a system for solar-powered desalination of seawater. It is simple, relatively cheap to install and, once installed, runs practically without any costs on solar power.
Peter Nylund Lisbon, Portugal
Gupte does not offer the most effective remedies: water conservation and water recycling. It is good news that much of the world is now paying close attention to this critical need. Recently I participated in global conferences on water reuse in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Kuwait and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; discussed water systems for new housing developments in a small but fast-growing city in San Diego County, and participated in developmental planning incorporating water recycling for a major city in the Middle East. We can no longer turn up our noses at usable water reclaimed from waste water. The technology and institutional models are well developed for harnessing this resource safely and economically. This will also improve sanitation and prevent water-transmitted communicable diseases, which Gupte rightly deplores.
Bahman Sheikh Water Reuse Specialist San Francisco, California
I get a little tired of Henry Kissinger’s endless self-promotion as the only American of his time capable of strategic thinking. In his review of Kissinger’s latest book, “Years of Renewal,” Michael Elliott claims that Kissinger, among other successes, secured the Helsinki accords (“Kissinger, Part Three,” Society & The Arts, March 29). The fact is that Kissinger, behind the backs of our NATO allies, tried to cook up a deal with the Soviets to scuttle any serious attempt to make something of the Helsinki conference. Kissinger was never particularly comfortable with multilateral diplomacy. He should be ashamed of himself if he tries to take credit for successes at Helsinki.
Arthur Breisky Bardejov, Slovakia
I’m surprised by the American policy’s lack of creativity and its rigid cold-war comprehension of international politics (“Albright’s Old World Ways,” U.S. Affairs, March 29). America has established an ineffective modus operandi to handle international crises, reflected in the cases of Iraq and Kosovo: pressing for artificial agreements, flagrantly violating international law, disregarding countries’ sovereignty and forcing countries to accept “solutions”–dividing nations between people and their leaders. America should take a more flexible and postmodernist approach to problems in countries where history, culture and nationalism are more important than Western values. If not, the “indispensable nation,” as Madeleine Albright likes to call the United States, could become the hated nation.
Costin E. Fasie Caracas, Venezuela
Mahlon Meyer’s “Fifteen Minutes of Fame” fails to mention the darker side of licensed prostitution in Taipei (Asia, March 29). The truth is that most men who frequently visit the government-run brothels do not go there for the 128 legally registered prostitutes, who are past their prime. These public prostitutes serve only as a cover-up for many underage girls who are sold to prostitution. They get little or no pay, do not receive weekly health checkups and are locked up and treated as slaves. How am I supposed to feel any sympathy for licensed prostitute Chia Chia, with her $3,000 a month? Many college graduates with decent jobs earn less than $1,000 a month and also have to support “a whole constellation of relatives.” The public prostitutes are not even the ones doing the “work.”
Marcelo Chen Taipei, Taiwan
Your report of “thousands” lining up to see Monica Lewinsky in Britain is being a little generous with the facts (“Monica Madness,” Society & The Arts, March 22). There may well have been four figures here and there, but it’s not hard to find a few sensation seekers. In fact, most people over here in Europe couldn’t care less about the whole business, and wouldn’t have cared at all had it not been for the unremitting attention of the media. I gather it was much the same in America. What is more important than Lewinsky and her exploits is that Western media have replaced reporting facts with generating stories. This is a major threat to democracy in that an unelected caucus is controlling public opinion.
Mike Shields Jarrow, England
It is naive to think that the American adventurer Philip True wasn’t aware of the dangers in Mexico’s remote Sierra Madre (“Death in the Mountains,” World Affairs, March 22). True made a conscious decision to brave those dangers because he wanted to shed light on the land of the Huichol Indians. There are problems and dangers south of the American border. But as far as crime goes, I feel safer in Mexico than in San Francisco, where I’m from. Mexico has a larger middle class and less disparity between the haves and have-nots than I expected, and the unemployment rate is at its lowest point in decades. Getting this less sexy side of Mexico across isn’t easy, and for attempting this, True deserves our praise.
Richard Rice Colonia Juarez, Mexico
Innocents abroad, beware! Whether it’s Turkey, Uganda, Australia or Florida, danger awaits the unwary. I travel to Mexico at least three times a year. When I’m there, I read the daily newspapers meticulously. I’m therefore aware of much of what happens in Mexico that is not reported in the United States. Rampant criminality exists in Mexico. The police are corrupt. To think that the police will actually catch and punish the killers of Philip True is laughable. I weep for Philip. He seems to have been a really nice guy. But nice guy or not, if you venture into “dangerous areas,” you must be prepared for the worst.
Sergio M. Garcia Gary, Indiana
Congratulations, Breitling Orbiter 3, on being the first balloon to circle the earth (“A Record Setting Flight,” Society & The Arts, March 29)! Some people still dream–and make their dreams come true.
Rene Gardea Prague, Czech Republic
Your story on the hazards of traveling suggests that when Americans are asked their nationality, they should pretend they are Canadians (“Be Careful Out There,” Business, March 8). At first this appeared to be a compliment–that is, until I read the next sentence: “People think they like Canadians.” Americans are becoming more multicultural, but until a greater degree of tolerance for anything but McDonald’s and Hollywood emerges, please don’t take a cheap shortcut to respectability by posing as someone from another country.
Jerry Dykman Morden, Canada
One of the goals of the Clinton administration has been to improve relations with China. The United States has therefore tolerated years of ballooning trade deficits with China. The human-rights conditions in China continue to deteriorate as the Chinese government muzzles dissent and jails political opponents. And now there are reports that China even stole nuclear-miniaturization secrets from the United States during the late ’80s, thus leap-frogging a technological gap of 10 to 12 years. China has achieved its long-term objectives–a strong economy and a menacing military–without having to worry about democracy, human rights and adherence to internationally binding treaties like the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which China is a signatory. What does the U.S. administration have to show for its “efforts”? Who has been driving whom?
Mac Kher Bloomington, Illinois
