Letters

Many readers sympathized with the Chinese who participated in last month's anti-Japanese protests. But others suggested that China should turn a more critical eye on its own behavior

TIME vividly depicted the anti-Japanese sentiment brewing in China as well as the political and economic effects of the dispute on both countries and the rest of the world [April 25]. Your story noted that the real debate is not over "a failure to atone for old sins. The issue is which country, Japan or China, will be the dominant Asian power of the 21st century." Financial and commercial considerations must prevail over the political and nationalistic views that have been given prime importance until now. It is a change for the better that politicians have started thinking about the welfare of their citizenry on all fronts and are realizing that they need to make efforts to bring about a better standard of living through economic cooperation and development.
Arvind A. Choudhari
Belfast

Those Chinese who protest against the whitewashing of World War II events in Japanese textbooks have often been presented as a mindless mob. Suppose, however, that a German textbook claimed that Nazi actions during the war were justified as a defense against Jews and communists. There would understandably be a huge uproar across Europe. Japan's wartime atrocities were crimes against humanity comparable to those in Europe, yet they have been below our moral radar.
John Butler
Kidderminster, England

You reported that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao snubbed Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, saying, "Only a country that respects history ... [and] wins over the trust of people in Asia and the world at large can take greater responsibilities in the international community." But China is endangering the economic prosperity of a large part of the earth's people, making itself a pariah state and a joke.
Sonam Rinchen
Hong Kong

The views of China and South Korea are poorly understood outside Asia. For better or for worse, the West tends to give Japan the benefit of the doubt. Is it because the Japanese have been making cars and TVs better and longer than the Chinese or the Koreans? Some of the resentment held by China and Korea against Japan stems from nationalism and economic jockeying for resources, but that's not why people mutilate themselves or jump from bridges.
Edward Kim
Fullerton, California, U.S.

A Kingdom in Chaos
Thank you for your comprehensive coverage of my home nation, Nepal—its failing statehood, the Maoist violence and King Gyanendra's political ambitions [April 25]. The so-called People's War of the Maoists to liberate the Nepalis from centuries of backwardness, combined with Gyanendra's seizing power, has succeeded in sentencing Nepalese democracy to a premature death. The mainstream political parties that represented the people in democratic elections have been effectively eliminated. Sadly, the people of Nepal are being held at gunpoint by both the Maoist rebels and the King's army. The political-party leaders were untrustworthy, but who knows how much corruption now resides inside the King's fortress palace or in the hierarchy of the Communists? Perhaps it is because my King believes more in fate than in pragmatism and 21st century civilization that he wants to maintain Nepal's isolation. Alas, a nation bleeds on.
Krishna Paudel
Singapore

Ordinary people in Nepal want peace and an end to the civil war. We have faith that our King will work to bring us peace. We have heard a lot of international criticism of King Gyanendra's seizure of power in February and complaints from politicians who were overthrown, but the current situation demands that we support our King. The media have been listening to the gripes of the politicians who in the past 14 years have given us only a corrupt society. The Nepalis are happy with the King.
Name Withheld by Request
Sanischare, Nepal

Americans, intoxicated with the idea of democracy, can't recognize when it has ceased to function effectively in other countries. Multiparty democracy certainly hasn't worked very well in Nepal since its inception 14 years ago. The King took control of the government three months ago, and since then there have been some positive results. I know firsthand that the government bureaucracy functions more efficiently. Additionally, corruption is being rooted out. Sometimes a benevolent dictator is required to govern the less developed. If King Gyanendra turns out to be benevolent, he will be remembered in history as the father of modern Nepal. Give him a chance.
F.A. Hutchison
Kathmandu

Before the Flood
Your story "Where the Waters are Rising" described how the Maldives are affected by global warming [April 25]. The best way to save such low-lying areas from rising ocean levels is for the U.S. to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and radically cut back on greenhouse-gas emissions. Why is it that the U.S., the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has the money and technology to reduce harmful emissions but lacks the political will to do so? It would be better for the American people to start planting trees in their backyards and write to their representatives in Washington to tell President George W. Bush to support the Kyoto Protocol.
Jim Victa Hipolito
Kawit, the Philippines

The opinions expressed in your story are untimely and irresponsible, especially as this tiny country, largely dependent on tourism, struggles to relaunch its tourism industry after the devastating tsunami of Dec. 26. The verifiable scientific knowledge on the effects of a rise in sea level is scanty. To the contrary, there is a school of thought that believes the sea-level rise doomsday scenario is a storm in a teacup.
Sim I. Mohamed
Secretary General
Maldives Association of Tourism Industry
Malé, the Maldives

African Heroine
I read with interest the TIME 100 list of influential people [April 18]. Thank you for including Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan Member of Parliament who won the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the environmentalist Green Belt Movement in her country. As your story noted, it isn't easy being green in the developing world. The showcasing of Maathai along with several other achievers from Africa will continue to inform the world that even though the political and economic steps of development are still being choreographed, Africa has the intellectual ability to promote the peaceful and economic fortunes of its people.
Daniel A. Owujie
Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Singapore's Downside
The TIME 100 profile of Singapore's senior statesman Lee Kuan Yew [April 18] left no doubt that he has designed and developed a modern city-state that is a role model for Asian economies. There are, however, side effects to his social engineering. The new generation of this extremely orderly city has almost forgotten human values and social obligations. Young people can't even plan to get married because of the extremely high cost of living. If married, they dare not start a family, owing to the cost of bringing up a child. The university produces good test takers but not world-class techies ready to take up challenging and innovative tasks in today's global environment.
Suresh Kumar Parappurath
Bangalore, India

All in the Family
One of the vaccines developed by microbiologist Maurice Hilleman [MILESTONES, April 25] came about through a fortuitous family connection. TIME recounted that medical breakthrough in a July 1, 1966, report:

"Mumps, like measles, is one of those familiar childhood diseases that have long been minimized ... Virologists in many different laboratories have been working overtime to develop an effective preventive vaccine ... Killed-virus vaccines against mumps have been available for several years ... But since they give an immunity that lasts only a year or two, they are unsuitable for children, who need a vaccine that confers—as the natural disease usually does—virtually lifetime immunity ... BY LUCKY COINCIDENCE, THE SEARCH [FOR A LIVE-VIRUS VACCINE] ENDED WHEN FIVE-YEAR-OLD JERYL LYNN HILLEMAN CAME DOWN WITH MUMPS. Jeryl Lynn is the daughter of Dr. Maurice R. Hilleman, head of the virology team at Merck Sharp & Dohme Institute for Therapeutic Research, which had been hunting for years for a mumps virus that would grow well in the lab and lose its virulence, while still retaining its power to give immunity ... Jeryl Lynn's virus was just what [the team] wanted. Now made into a vaccine, it has already been given to more than 500 youngsters in the Philadelphia area. The children developed no fever or other mumps symptoms."

Setting the Record Straight
Superior title
• The TIME 100 profile of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew [April 18] referred to him as "Senior Minister." Although Lee held that title from 1990 to 2004, his current position is "Minister Mentor," a post created for him in August 2004.
• In our story "A Tale of Two Churches" [April 18], we incorrectly identified Joseph Zen as "Archbishop" of Hong Kong. His title is "Bishop."