So new US consul-general James Cunningham, after barely a month in the job, feels confident that he can tell Hong Kong and Macau how they should run their affairs ('Greater democracy promotes stability, says new US envoy', September 21).
This is typical of those people who believe in their hearts that they have all the answers as to how other nations should be run - except their own. At home, the US cannot even take care of its own people in an emergency (or should I have put 'poor' before 'people', since the authorities did give time for those with cars to save themselves from Hurricane Katrina).
Ironically, the next day ('Invest in defence or go it alone, Taipei told', September 22), a Pentagon official warned that the US could not be expected to defend Taiwan in case of attack. Why not just be honest and say that the US claims to support 'one China', but still encourages Taiwan to buy its weapons. Let Taiwan learn the lesson that with the US there are no free lunches - or military assistance. Money rules all. Safety lies with the homeland.
Those with colonial ambitions must learn that all nations can find their own political solutions, because they alone understand the culture of their country. No one needs to tell them what to do. If the US kept its hands off others' countries, it would have more friends.
ELSIE TU, Kwun Tong
Weather rules for public
I refer to the letter 'Hong Kong's weather warning system too rigid' (September 21), by Peter Lok.
