The Great Debate on Yankee Brains and Spinal Cords

Whoops, I guess we haven't mentioned anything to do with Taiwan in about 30 posts. How about this from an article in the October 28th edition of the Taipei Times:

Source: Taipei Times

Under the terms of the new accord, US bone-in beef, ground beef, intestines, brains, spinal cords and processed beef from cattle younger than 30 months that have not been contaminated with “specific risk materials” will be allowed to enter Taiwan starting on Nov. 10.

At present, Taiwan allows imports of US boneless beef from cattle younger than 30 months that do not contain “specific risk materials.”

[Taiwan (AIT) Director William Stanton] said yesterday that 1,034 people out of 23 million Taiwanese lost their lives in scooter accidents last year.

“So when you look at the risk, statistically, [in contrast to] no cases of mad cow disease [reported in the US], well, one might conclude that one should stop driving motor scooters because of the risk [of the accidents],” he said.'

Of course I'm excited to be able to once again tuck into a nice steaming bowl of Yankee spinal cord (recipe to follow). But in truth, I take no stand on the matter of whether to allow these products into Taiwan or not. I tend not to consider my risk of contracting Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease when I eat a hamburger. Clearly, the vast majority of those protesting the import of these products have some economic stake in keeping them out, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt. I also have no doubt that Taiwanese beef, in one way or another, poses equal or greater risks to my health than its American counterpart. What I find interesting in the article though, is the rhetorical idiocy of the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), William Stanton. Check out his air-tight logic that people die on scooters, and Taiwan doesn't ban them, so what business do they have banning American brains and spinal cords.

Ya right, cow brains and scooters ... pretty much the same thing. Guess we'd better let them in. Of course he could have extended his arguments to cars and roads in general, which are also the cause of multiple deaths in the country. How about fatty foods, surely they raise the mortality rate as well. If we allow those, we'd better send in the brains. As far as that goes, since the government of Taiwan allows scooters to wreak carnage on the population, I guess there's really no argument for banning any product based on safety concerns. Let's bring back lead paint, asbestos, and all those toys from the seventies with the temptingly swallowable little pieces.

Keep in mind that AIT is the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan. And this nonsensical logic comes from the de facto American Ambassador. I'm curious as to what exactly are the qualifications for this position.  Stanton was the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in South Korea, and before that worked for the U.S. State Department in Beijing. He has only held the position of Director of AIT since March 2009. Check out this post about Stanton from The View from Taiwan and the associated article from the Taipei Times. Apparently, not only is he less than Platoesque in his logic, he has also been accused of being 'excessively pro-China' in his views. According to the unnamed sources from The Taipei Times, Stanton, during his time in Beijing, exhibited a pattern of impeding or blocking negative reports on China from being sent back to Washington.

So the questions arise, 'Who is William Stanton and why is he here?'