Gathering from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s all-out, undivided efforts these past months promoting the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, it appears as if inking the proposed pact stands as the sole task at hand, requiring the government’s full-time attention and top priority.
However, with typhoon season approaching, the government has many other issues more worthy of its urgent attention than the inking of a cross-strait accord that remains highly contentious.
This is not to say the government is unaware of typhoon season. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said last week that he would not visit the nation’s four diplomatic allies in Africa this year because the Central Weather Bureau has forecast more typhoons than usual this season, with above-average rainfall.
Ma’s decision not to travel overseas so that he can look after his country may be a good start, but it is not enough.
The torrential plum rains on Sunday caused not only several small landslides along the Alishan Highway and damage to roads and makeshift bridges, trapping residents and forcing school closures, but also revealed that many parts of the country remain fragile as a result of uncompleted reconstruction following the devastation wrought by Typhoon Morakot in August last year.
Nine months have passed since Morakot caused havoc in southern Taiwan, claiming more than 700 lives and burying numerous mountain villages. It is unnerving to still be reading media reports of how slow the reconstruction progress has been.
Following Sunday’s torrential rain, Ma instructed government agencies to keep abreast of the latest developments and make disaster-prevention preparations. However, as the saying goes: Actions speak louder than words. There is more Ma could do than just issuing directives.
Rather than spending time attending seminars promoting the planned ECFA and spouting the same old rhetoric, Ma could visit the areas undergoing reconstruction. Many recall how, in the early days after Morakot hit, damaged roads in disaster-hit areas were quickly fixed and repaired wherever Ma visited for inspection. Imagine how progress of reconstruction projects could accelerate if he were to make frequent on-site inspections.
The government’s priority is to protect its people’s well-being and keep them from harm. And it is obvious that well thought-out preventative measures are much better than post-disaster relief.
The public was let down miserably in August by the Ma administration, which claims to be “prepared and ready.” It is everyone’s hope that the administration has taken the Morakot experience as a hard lesson learned and that it has tightened all the screws, cemented every pathway and taken every conceivable preventative measure ahead of the typhoon season.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that people must be tolerant of other views, that the president should not act as a dictator and that the judiciary should not get involved in politics. He then went on to say that others with different opinions should not be criticized as “XX fellow travelers,” in reference to
RSS