Chen's moves

Chen Shui-bian's latest secessionist move of removing the words "China" or "Chinese" from government-run organizations, enterprises and from certain laws and regulations is provocative and can be very harmful to cross-Strait relations.

Taiwan is part of China. Chen's attempt to create de jure Taiwan independence could be disastrous to this island.

David Wu

Via e-mail

Rethinking values

Comments on You Nuo's column "Rethinking New Year's Travel Crush" (China Daily, February 12)

The point that You Nuo made in the penultimate paragraph of "Rethinking New Year's Travel Crush" is a good one:

What is the point of managing cities by just building wide roads, tall offices and look-alike department stores without making life easier and more colorful for the common people.

Have you read The Death and Life of American Cities (1961) by Jane Jacobs?

It's a readable argument against the massive scaled, impersonal city planning style that prevailed in the US right up until she published her book.

From this foreigner's perspective, Chinese urban planners still have considerable room to develop in the area of making their projects more friendly to the people who will live and work in what eventually gets built. If they spent more time looking at foreign mistakes, perhaps they could avoid replicating so many of them in China.

Chuck Chambers

Shanghai

Thanks for You Nuo's very clear and detailed analysis of the migration during different holidays, especially for the family gathering of Spring Festival, a very traditional and custom-filled event around China and even for the Chinese overseas around the world.

From my perspective, the traditional concept of the Spring Festival holiday is now changed by the influence of the economy and the goal of a more prosperous life, which actually is an endless desire to be fulfilled.

In the past, Chinese people enjoyed a variety of days throughout the year. Some were to give thanks to the generous laotianye (god of heaven) to bring peace and happiness to families, some were to honor ancestors, and some were harvest celebrations. In those days, people were not much pushed by the pursuit of money.

What are people doing now? Especially those so called rich in income? They are busily involved in making more money, and they have no time to stop on the way for a short break. When suddenly they have time to take a break, they have blindly lost ways to amuse themselves.

Still if we talk only about those with money, we cover no more than 5 percent of the population. We might be allured to always look at the rich, and think about their ways of amusing themselves, but what about those people gathered at home?

Ishaga

Via e-mail

Abortion problem

I am worried by the news that abortion rates among teens in the Zhejiang Province capital have risen this month as young students rush to a free local clinic to terminate their pregnancies while on vacation from schools and colleges (China Daily, February 16).

From my point of view, the major cause of teen pregnancies is lack of proper sex education for the youngsters. Sex is one of the most natural things, which should not be treated as a beast. Due to cultural background, the Chinese traditionally regard sex as a private matter to be talked about only among close friends, not for public discussion. However, this has made many Chinese youngsters almost illiterate about sex. With little knowledge about sex, the youngsters could be misled by the pornographic websites and magazines. This can lead to unsafe sex.

Sex education is therefore very necessary and should be treated properly. This could at least help to reduce the teen abortion rate.

Tan Cong

Tianjin

West no threat

Comment on Raymond Zhou's column "Yes, Spring Festival is truly golden" (China Daily, February 16)

Chinese culture is not being threatened by Western culture. In the West we like Chinese food, ancient medicine, Feng Shui the good things of Chinese culture.

A passer-by

On China Daily website

(China Daily 02/27/2007 page11)