CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence STANDING UP FOR TAIWAN William Kristol and Robert Kagan rightly propose that we help Taiwan escape from the "one China" box into which it was put ("Free Taiwan," July 26). Henry...
...Not everyone shares Love's confidence in South Africa's "relatively advanced" medical system...
...Gore has not "coordinated trade policy" with South Africa since 1994...
...But where are they now, when something can be done to prevent the next such authoritarian takeover—one that will likely be far more devastating on every level than the takeover of Tibet was...
...The stakes are large...
...But we are enthusiastic in our support of enacting legislation during this Congress...
...allies—namely Israel and Taiwan— who are either surrounded or leaned on by barbaric, avowed enemies of everything American...
...Employees who spend most of their work hours seated at a computer are prone to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and back-related conditions...
...trade officials have been bullying the South Africans so drug companies can charge premium prices, aimed at the relatively wealthy white minority...
...Twenty-four states have approved customer choice initiatives that will enable consumers to shop for their electricity providers...
...Which question is not as Huffington describes it...
...Along with the destabilization of the Soviet nuclear/biological/chemical war machine, the future of Taiwan is the most important issue in the world right now, with potentialities that far outweigh anything that could ever happen in the Balkans...
...DAVID CURTIN LOGAN, UT William Kristol and Robert Kagan's editorial about Taiwan is, as usual, an incredibly clear-headed, straight-talking, makes-so-much-sense-it-will-never-happen piece of writing...
...Yes, the WTO's TRIPS agreement permits parallel importing and compulsory licensing...
...CAROLE DICKERT-SCHERR VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE ALEXANDRIA, VA AL GORE'S DRUG PROBLEM The most surprising thing about David Tell's editorial defending Vice President Gore's South African AIDS drug policy is the extent to which he was willing to swallow the spin of Gore's staff despite all contradictory evidence ("In Defense of Al Gore—Just This Once," July 19...
...but now that they have seen fit to disembark, we should too...
...I would recommend this technique to Arianna Huffington...
...James Love does not address the "notwithstanding" clause at basic issue...
...The South African health ministry's most famous past AIDS initiative is its mid-1990s propaganda on behalf of Virodene P058, a purported miracle cure based on a poisonous industrial solvent...
...Finally, there is Tell's concern about Africans' taking drugs improperly and hosting disease-resistant strains of infectious diseases...
...It was the first I've seen that got this issue right, and it said everything that needed to be said...
...If Gore is willing "to speed the availability of lower-cost pharmaceuticals in South Africa," why has he condoned both putting South Africa on the U.S...
...The fantastic development of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, etc...
...2) Tell writes that Gore's staff "will patiently explain all the trade-law technicalities to anyone who bothers to call...
...It's worth the effort...
...Then came Title IX in 1972...
...Now is one of the worst times in history for there to be a leadership vacuum...
...That's the nature of the legislative process...
...STEVE MOSHER FALLS CHURCH, VA Thank you for William Kristol and Robert Kagan's excellent editorial on Taiwan...
...antitrust laws...
...If it turns out someone is actually telling the truth, we say so, even when the someone in question is Al Gore...
...It represents a minuscule portion—about two-tenths of one per-cent—of PBS's health care expenses...
...Compulsory licensing does involve making copies of a drug, in return for a government-set royalty to the patent owner...
...And it indicated a change only in rhetoric, not in policy...
...For the next 50 years, the NCAA didn't sponsor a single women's sporting event...
...BILL PAXON AMERICANS FOR AFFORDABLE ELECTRICITY WASHINGTON, DC LOVE POTION TITLE IX I agree with many of David Tell's assertions, particularly how men's sports have been decimated by universities attempting to comply with ill-defined gender equity rules ("The Myth of Title IX," July 26...
...What happened to The Weekly Standard's famous suspecting glance...
...And now, under the leadership of House Commerce Committee chairman Tom Bliley and Energy and Power Subcommittee chairman Joe Barton, we're heading toward markup of one of the most important pieces of consumer legislation in years...
...trade pressures focused on Thailand and South Africa, two countries with relatively advanced medical infrastructures...
...But state action alone is not enough...
...Indeed, the United States regularly engages in compulsory licensing...
...Seated-chair massage is a small part of PBS's Wellness Program, a cost-effective, widely accepted, and important preventive health initiative that also includes flu shots and blood-pressure testing...
...But despite its imperfections, Title IX's impact on women's sports should not be understated...
...We should encourage Republicans and Democrats alike to "walk the walk and talk the talk" of comprehensive legislation to bring the benefits of a competitive electric market to all consumers...
...ARIANNA HUFFINGTON LOS ANGELES, CA David Tell's spirited defense of Vice President Al Gore on the issue of Africa and AIDS was moving, but often off the mark...
...China may be caught in a one-party time warp, but Taiwan has changed, and is now a full-fledged democracy...
...They also democratized, striking fear into the hearts of the tiny elite that rules, by deadly force, their giant neighbor...
...Unfortunately, this spruced up spin was good enough to dupe THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...Admitting that Taiwan is a state would be the beginning of wisdom in formulating U.S...
...In this particular impasse, notwithstanding State Department language intended to placate the pharmaceutical industry, Gore has gone his own way—declining to endorse that industry's preferred solution, trade sanctions, while continuing to pursue a serious question of trade law...
...While the players certainly got their initial soccer training in the youth programs, it is folly to suggest that this was more important than the coaching and experience they received in college...
...Henry Kissinger and his associates sold Taiwan down the river 27 years ago, effectively promising Beijing a free hand with the island...
...ANDREW STERN NEW YORK, NY BACKRUBS FOR BIG BIRD Bernadette Malone's misleading piece ignores the facts ("PBS's Massage Parlor," July 26...
...3) The vice president's hand-wringing letter to the Congressional Black Caucus was written only after public protests, news stories, and opinion pieces focused attention on his role in keeping generic AIDS drugs off the market...
...In fact, Lee can't agree to party-to-party talks...
...As a full-fledged democracy, the government led by President Lee enjoys a legitimacy far exceeding that of the Chinese Communist regime led by Party Secretary Jiang Zemin...
...By asking for "state-to-state" talks with China, President Lee Teng-hui is trying to break out of the box...
...Republicans and Democrats, in both the Congress and the administration, do agree that it's time for us to remove impediments in federal law that hinder competition...
...Only Congress can address the interstate aspects of the industry that need reform...
...He accuses the Clinton administration of being "reluctant to walk the walk" in favor of free markets and competition for electricity...
...She had them, but didn't report them...
...The United States should insist that the Beijing regime negotiate with the government of Taiwan as an equal...
...Parallel imports are not, as the editorial suggests, some Third World way to avoid patent laws...
...It appears that this country is now led by an administration that is unmoved by tiny democratic U.S...
...Sure, we can quibble about the details of what should be included in the legislation...
...Studies show that preventive measures work...
...Our involvement in the South Africa trade dispute dates to July 1997, when Gore used a meeting of the U.S.-South Africa Binational Commission (BNC) to pressure the South African minister of health to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over proposed amendments to the South African Medicines Act...
...No federal dollars go toward this subsidized employee benefit...
...Even the most bitter Title IX opponents cannot consider this to be mere coincidence...
...Realpolitik aside, the United States should be ashamed of itself for not supporting a democratic, non-threatening nation against a repressive totalitarian regime which has already begun eroding the fagade of self-determination in Hong Kong...
...DAVID NIELSEN ARLINGTON, VA...
...This, too, is permitted under international trade agreements—the same trade agreements that permit the U.S...
...In response, the bullies of Beijing are now calling Lee a "traitor," and are insisting on "party-to-party" talks, as in the old days of the Chinese civil war...
...Before Title IX, the NCAA and universities had no motivation to offer women's sports programs...
...Tell writes that the players received their "most extensive and important coaching" in youth leagues, and he tries to back that up by stating that 7 of the team's 11 starters joined the team as teenagers in the 1980s...
...What would Americans think if Bill Clinton, acting as the head of the Democratic party, entered into negotiations over America's future...
...So are the benefits for Americans...
...While Tell is correct that aggressive enforcement of Title IX did not begin until 1992, his implication that it had no impact on college athletics beforehand is foolish...
...I serve as the national chairman of Americans for Affordable Electricity (AAE), a coalition of more than 260 members that favors enacting new legislation guaranteeing all Americans the right to choose their electricity supplier...
...These facts give Taiwan and its people new claims on U.S...
...China policy, and is the only way to bring about a true reconciliation between China and Taiwan...
...But only one of these "teenage phenoms" (Kristine Lilly) scored a goal for the team before playing in college...
...If this is not maintained, investment will be sucked back out so fast that we'll have to come up with a new term for the "Asian Crisis" of 1997...
...Tell oddly fails to point out that each of those seven players—in fact, every member of the 1999 team—starred in the '80s and '90s for NCAA college programs that would not have existed had Title IX not provided the impetus for universities to create women's athletic teams...
...Here are just some of the facts Tell ignored: (1) Gore is the co-chair of the U.S.-South Africa Binational Commission and has coordinated trade policy between the two countries since 1994...
...All of PBS's federal funds are earmarked for programming and education services...
...I did bother to call, and did have the technicalities patiently explained to me...
...AAE does not support all of the provisions in the administration's bill...
...Despite being so cavalierly written off as a useless appendage of history, Taiwan surprised everyone by not only surviving, but thriving...
...For example, buying Claritin in Canada for $61 rather than in North Dakota for $218—the same product from the same company, but sold for a different price...
...Stop countries from having access to cheap drugs...
...We then apply our "famous suspecting glance" to the facts themselves...
...His logic is flawed, however, when he says Title IX had nothing to do with the success of the U.S...
...And doing that takes a bipartisan effort...
...They are simply finding the best world price for a manufacturer's products...
...I encourage all competition advocates to step up their efforts in support of enacting legislation at the federal level that would repeal outdated statutes like the Public Utility Holding Company Act, address gaps in federal authority to ensure that we have a reliable industry, and guarantee open access to interstate transmission lines...
...Provided, that is, that the authorizing country proceeds according to clearly articulated rules involving, among other things, national "emergency" declarations, negotiations with original patent holders, royalty payments, and re-export restrictions...
...Parallel imports do not violate patent laws in Japan, the United States, or Europe, and they are plainly permitted under the WTO's TRIPS agreement on intellectual property...
...Women's World Cup soccer program...
...If the U.S...
...The social turmoil will be staggering...
...Offering seated-massage benefits helps keep employees on the job and productive...
...South Africa's Medicines Act amendments appear to abrogate these rules by authorizing parallel importing and compulsory licensing "notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained within the Patents Act" that binds that country to TRIPS...
...For two years, at the request of the pharmaceutical industry, Al Gore and U.S...
...South Africa's Medicines Act does not violate World Trade Organization regulations by allowing for the compulsory licensing and parallel importing of AIDS drugs...
...In contrast to Stelzer, I want to credit the administration for putting forward a comprehensive proposal to restructure this vital industry...
...government is so concerned about the medical infrastructure issue, why have U.S...
...THE ELECTRIC SLIDE Irwin Stelzer's article paints a negative, cynical view of the Comprehensive Electricity Competition Act ("Al Gore's Marginal Utility," July 19...
...I disagree...
...For example, the NCAA first began offering men's team championships in 1921, when Illinois won the first track and field title...
...since World War II has only been possible because of the stability engendered by a Pax Americana in the Pacific...
...Hollywood liberals and their ilk wax melancholy over the loss of Tibet 50 years ago...
...Was it sacrificed just because you agree with Gore's policy on this matter...
...Our support of the "one China" policy was fine as long as Taiwan was also willing to come along for the ride...
...The people of Taiwan built a free-market economy that is the envy of their cousins on the mainland...
...He is the elected president of all Taiwan, not just the chairman of the Kuomintang...
...government's Watch List, and the drug companies' two-year campaign against South Africa's Medicines Act...
...sympathies that go well beyond any residual affection some conservatives may feel for the losing side in the Chinese civil war...
...Tell is correct that the current enforcement of Title IX is seriously flawed...
...The binational commission he co-chairs attempts only to resolve bilateral impasses at the ministerial level...
...Faced with an inefficient and uncompetitive distribution system, South African officials wanted to buy in the most competitive local markets, including the United States...
...Within 10 years of its passage, the NCAA began offering women's championships in 12 sports, including women's soccer, which began in 1982...
...If the introduction of modern anti-retroviral agents to Africa, where there is no guarantee that they will be administered according to accepted protocol, threatens to produce continent-wide drug-resistant strains of AIDS, then it may not be a good idea...
...And the remedy to this problem is what...
...In the past this difference has been finessed: When talks were first held in 1993, the two sides were represented by non-governmental organizations that, on Taiwan's side at least, everyone present recognized as representing Taiwan's government...
...Each side puts its "spin" on the underlying facts...
...government to use compulsory licensing under the Clean Air Act, for nuclear power, for public health purposes, for government use, and as a remedy for anti-competitive practices under U.S...
...To my mind, at least, he also skips rather too quickly over a still more important problem...
...JAMES LOVE CONSUMER PROJECT ON TECHNOLOGY WASHINGTON, DC DAVID TELL RESPONDS: There is a public policy dispute...
...So the United States, with some justice, is concerned about the international patent rights of its domestic manufacturers...
...More specifically, according to a report to Congress by the State Department, the vice president spearheaded "an assiduous, concerted campaign" to stop South Africa from making low-cost AIDS drugs available to its 3.2 million infected citizens...
...But when I checked, the explanations turned out to be wrong...
Vol. 4 • August 1999 • No. 44
