The politicos and political commentators who have been quick to embroil the nation in another political spat after the horrendous flooding caused by Typhoon Fanapi should be ashamed of themselves, considering that residents in typhoon-affected areas are still suffering amid the damage caused by the heavy rains over the weekend.
Fanapi left behind serious flooding in townships in Pingtung County and Kaohsiung city and county, dumping over 1,000mm of rain on Saturday and Sunday, most of it falling in a six-hour period. While an evaluation and investigation into the terrible flooding certainly needs to be conducted, there is a time for finger-pointing and a time for action. The priority right now should be action, with the focus on assisting flood-affected residents to return to their normal routines and restoring the damaged streets as soon as possible.
However, some politicos and opportunists apparently see things differently. Seizing the disaster as an opportunity to attack Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the Democratic Progressive Party, they rushed to find fault with Chen and her government, claiming that the flood was the result of human errors and accusing Chen of failing to take precautionary measures against flooding.
However, the flood was the worst Kaohsiung City has suffered in 50 years, and why only single out Kaohsiung City when other areas, such as Pingtung and Kaohsiung counties, were also hit with massive flooding? Could the answer be that there is no election at the end of this year in Pingtung, and that Chen stands as the strongest candidate in the Greater Kaohsiung mayoral election?
Chen holds a seemingly insurmountable lead in the Nov. 27 mayoral race, according to the latest valuations projected by National Chengchi University’s Prediction Market Center. Its findings put her value at NT$68.90, well ahead of her Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) contender Huang Chao-shun (黃昭順), whose value is between NT$14 and NT$16, and Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), running as an independent candidate, whose value ranges from NT$15 to NT$19.
While inspecting the Kaohsiung area yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) made a rational remark, saying that now is not the time to trade barbs over who should be held responsible for the flooding. He added that a number of factors contributed to the disaster, including the fact that a huge volume of rain fell within a short period of time.
However, before the public lauds the president for being impartial and reasonable, they cannot ignore a rather distasteful picture — accompanying Ma on his inspection yesterday was Huang.
While the visit may be well intended and aimed at showing his concern for the flooded-affected residents, one also wonders if Ma harbors shades of political bias given that he was accompanied by the KMT candidate, who donned a campaign polo shirt emblazoned with her name painted in red.
If it is too much to ask that politicians show some level of empathy toward the flood victims, could they at least wait a while before they start to attack their political opponents? Indeed, it is downright pathetic that there are always some people who are shamelessly eager to build their personal gains on the expense of others’ pain and misfortune.
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
RSS