During a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, South Korean President Park Geun-hye referred to relations with Japan, saying that Tokyo needs to have correct historical perceptions to realize peace in Northeast Asia.

Park’s words came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s controversial remarks and behavior concerning historical recognition and visits to war-related Yasukuni Shrine by Cabinet ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso.

Self-esteem comes from being able to care about oneself and believe in one's own worth. Life is miserable without it, but it is also human to sometimes feel worthless and become dejected.

My reason for bringing up self-esteem here is that hate speech has become a hot topic of late, with some people making blatantly discriminatory and derogatory remarks about others based on their race or nationality. Recent examples include individuals marching in districts with large South Korean and North Korean populations, shouting malicious slogans such as "Kill Koreans."

Taiwanese fishing boats have long been menaced by armed vessels from the Philippines and Vietnam, with countless Taiwanese fishermen saying they have either been harassed or had their catch confiscated at gunpoint.

With life on the high seas hard as it is — given the physical and mental effort needed to cope with the uncertainty of the weather, as well as interference from Philippine and Vietnamese ships — imagine the added emotional burden Taiwanese fishermen carry knowing that they cannot count on their own government for protection or support.

A small group of city councilors from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), accompanied by DPP Legislator Pasuya Yao, formed a half circle on Monday morning as they burned reproductions of the Philippine flag and images of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III outside the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taipei.

Yao and the participants at the small protest were expressing the outrage many Taiwanese feel at the Philippine Coast Guard’s killing of a Taiwanese fisherman on Thursday. They were joined by dozens of members of the 908 Taiwan Republic Alliance, a pro-independence group, who, along with DPP city councilors, lobbed green flippers at the office.