After his arrest, Apply Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying said, “If we don’t change [China], the world will not have peace” and that China’s behaviour “went against international values” (“ ‘No world peace without changing China,’ Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai says ”, August 13). I wonder who is unsettling the world and what international values Lai was referring to. History tells us the United States backed a coup in Hawaii and annexed it in 1898. The Vietnam war , which the US was involved in, lasted almost two decades. The US trained and backed the Cuban exiles who took part in the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. It briefly invaded Cambodia in 1970. In 1983, it invaded Granada in Operation Urgent Fury. It invaded Iran’s territorial waters in Operation Praying Mantis in 1988. Addicted to war, it invaded Panama in Operation Just Cause in 1989. Last but not least, it invaded Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Do troops in Syria signal another invasion? Lai should give an honest answer to the question of who is truly turning the world upside down. Did the US wage the above-mentioned wars to make the world a better place or only to further its own interests? Who suffered the most in these wars? Then, Lai should list the wars waged by China since 1898. Perhaps we need to change the US to promote world peace. The United States is now playing God – once you are an eyesore to that country, you can expect to be visited by the Americans at their convenience. Every country must live in the US’ shadow. Do “international values” now mean a colossal loss of life and property due to war or invasion? Ringo Yee, Tuen Mun
