Central and southern Taiwan were stripped bare by Tropical Storm Mindulle, leaving areas heavily affected by floods and landslides.
Government authorities have implemented an unprecedented range of bridge closures in the area for safety reasons. The recent storm has led to the loss of life not seen since the 921 earthquake in 1999 and Typhoon Toraji in the summer of 2001.
Mindulle has tested the reconstruction that followed these disasters, and is in a way nature's way of signing off on these projects.
Areas such as Shenmu and Tungfu villages near the Chenyoulan River of Nantou County, as well as Tungshih and Fengyuan townships of Taichung County, which experienced the most devastating landslides, were the same regions struck by the 921 earthquake. Mioli, Chunghwa, Chiayi, Yunlin, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung were hit by record-breaking torrential downpours brought by Mindulle, which inflicted causalities second only to the kind of flooding that hit the island on Aug. 7, 1959.
All of these disasters are at least in part the result of over 50 years of merciless man-made environmental damage and poor disaster prevention plans. Commercial farming continues to encroach on our forests; the expansion of betel palm fields, in particular, severely upsets the local ecosystem. The damage done in Hualien has been a lesson we as a country should learn from.
In the reconstruction that followed the 921 earthquake, the government committed itself to using "eco-technology." Without gaining a deep understanding of this technology, the government allowed it to become the only aspect of its reconstruction program. The destruction in Nantou and Tungshih is the direct result of the decades-long deforestation in this country, not to mention the loss of homeostasis in our ecosystem. How to assess nature's need for rest, understanding the limitations imposed by Taiwan's natural environment, and learning how best to develop and exploit these resources, is the key to preserving ecological homeostasis.
Development policies based on economic motivations (rather than ecological ones) can only increase the number of disaster-affected areas and end up with more severe disasters. If we do only reflect on successes of the post-921 earthquake rehabilitation projects, but ignore the unprecedented torrential rains brought by Mindulle -- with many months left in the typhoon season -- how can we possibly prevent another calamity?
The so-called "eco-technology" operating nowadays is just simply a superficial amelioration through the planting of grass and trees over riverbeds and near-collapsing hillsides. The technology may even increase flooding. By making "eco-technology" the main thrust of disaster reconstruction is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. "Eco-technology" is, indeed, the main culprit in the formation and acceleration of flooding disasters.
Government authorities should review their backward environmental policies which played a role in Nantou County and Tungshih and Fengyuan townships' recent agonies. By blindly constructing comb dams, we allow the frightening prospect of a downward rush of rocks and mud near the densely populated recreational upriver areas.
We must not allow "eco-technology" to progress uncontrollably. While it is ostentatious, it is of no use in disaster prevention.
Chen Hsin-hsiung is a professor at National Taiwan University's School of Forestry and Resource Conservation.
TRANSLATED BY IAN BARTHOLOMEW AND YA-TI LIN
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers