Re: "Trump hurting global trade in ideas", (Opinion, Aug 4).
DC policy wonk Sally Tyler states, "Immeasurable benefits flow to the US and countries around the world from the participation of international students on American campuses."
To clarify, the "immeasurable benefits which flow to the US" are immeasurable because it is so small. People from all over the world come to study in the US for personal gain, not to contribute to the US in any meaningful way.
Examples are Muslim activists disrupting college campuses and Chinese spies smuggling bioweapons into laboratories where they intern.
Sally Tyler may be unaware that Xi Jinping's daughter attends Harvard, protected 24/7 by an entourage of security personnel. Is she making a contribution to the subject of psychology, which she studies?
The "global trade in ideas" is not an international right bestowed by the United States, just as USAID is not a guarantee of free money. Have any of Trump's children studied at Tsinghua University?
Equitable trade, whether in financial assets or intellectual property, is an appropriate cornerstone of international relations. President Trump is doing what he was elected to do, putting America's interests first.
Michael Setter
Clean air dream
Re: "PM2.5, gene changes behind lung cancer spike", (BP, Aug 4).
As I jogged around Lumpini Park this morning, I admired how crystalline and sharp the view of skyscrapers across the lake was. There was no haze blurring the edges, as is sadly often the case. We have the opportunity to make such crystal clear skies the everyday reality in Thailand, not just a rainy season bonus, thanks to the newly drafted Clean Air Bill.
This Draft Bill is now open for consultation on the parliament website, at https://shorturl.asia/MCoPU. Thai citizens are invited to express their support for clean air by answering the multiple-choice questions. The public consultation closes on Aug 8 at midnight. High public interest expressed via the public consultation will help to drive the political will to pass this important legislation rapidly.
May I take this opportunity to thank the tireless volunteers of the Thailand Clean Air Network, who have been fighting to make a Clean Air Bill for Thailand a reality for eight years. We all deserve clean air to breathe.
Diane Archer
Reinvent the WTO
Re: "WTO at 30 after decades of challenges", (Opinion, July 30).
As the author Supachai Panitchpakdi rightly notes, the WTO has become emblematic of the tensions that define the global trade landscape today: North versus South, multilateralism versus protectionism, and institutional inertia versus the imperative of reform. Yet, amid these dichotomies, one central truth clearly emerges -- the WTO can only be revitalised if it is able to function in a genuine spirit of solidarity.
Revitalising the WTO should therefore not be reduced to technical fixes or procedural adjustments. It requires a renewed political commitment to a trade system that works for all -- developed and developing countries alike.
The WTO at 30 has now a choice: to drift into irrelevance or to reinvent itself as a platform for inclusive dialogue and equitable rules. The latter path is only possible if its members embrace solidarity not just as rhetoric, but as the guiding principle of international economic cooperation.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).