The Taiwanese government yesterday appealed for public donations for the relief efforts in Japan as Taipei increased its donation from US$300,000 to NT$100 million (US$3,382,000) in light of the increasing scale of the disaster caused by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.
“Taiwan has close relations with Japan, Japan is our important neighbor and there has been a close bond between the people of the two countries. The Japanese government and civil groups gave a helping hand to Taiwan at the time of the 921 Earthquake [in 1999] and August 8 Flood [in 2009] ... We hereby appeal to Taiwanese to donate to help those in Japan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shen Ssu-tsun (沈斯淳) said at a press conference.
The 921 earthquake refers to a magnitude 7.3 quake that struck Taiwan on Sept. 21, 1999. The quake claimed 2,444 lives and injured 11,305, according to government statistics. More than 51,000 homes collapsed and 53,768 were severely damaged.
Asked about the situation of Taiwanese in Japan, Huang Ming-lung (黃明朗), secretary-general of the ministry’s East Asian Relations Commission, said: “No casualties nor injuries have been reported thus far, but we are still unable to reach several hundred Taiwanese compatriots and two students.”
According to the ministry, 39 Taiwanese tour groups totaling 1,066 people in Tokyo, a tour group of 16 people in Akita and another tour group of 30 in Sendai were all confirmed safe, but two academics surnamed Lee (李) and Hsieh (謝), who were in Sendai for an academic meeting, were unaccounted for at press time.
The ministry said that there were 653 Taiwanese compatriots and 50 students in the main disaster areas, adding that 115 resided in Fukushima where residents within a 20km radius of a nuclear power plant were told to evacuate their homes yesterday after radiation levels rose following a massive explosion at the power plant.
The ministry is keeping a close eye on the situation in Japan, particularly in its hardest-hit northeastern coastal regions, and would respond to an emergency in a speedy and efficient manner, Shen said.
The government appeared to offer conflicting accounts on the nation’s aid offer to Japan, as both President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday that Japan had formally asked Taiwan on Friday for assistance, including rescue teams and rescue dogs, and Wu said the Taiwanese rescue teams could leave for Japan yesterday or today.
However, Shen said he was not aware of the discussions that both Ma and Wu mentioned.
According to Huang, Taiwan first offered to send rescue teams to Japan, but Tokyo told Taipei to hold off for the time being.
Shen said the ministry was told by Japanese Representative to Taiwan Tadashi Imai that Tokyo did not need the help and that Japan would stay in contact with Taipei if it needed assistance as the situation developed.
Several Taiwan International Emergency Rescue Team groups were also ready to leave for Japan as officials in Taipei continued to contact their Japanese counterparts to offer assistance for rescue efforts, Shen added.
Meanwhile, former Japanese prime minister Toshiki Kaifu, who is on a three-day visit in Taipei, called a press conference yesterday to express gratitude to Ma, who Kaifu said twice made telephone calls to offer his condolences to Japan and the Japanese people.
Kaifu said he was not in a position to comment on why Tokyo declined Taipei’s help, a decision he believed was made by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying that he personally thought that “the offer should be accepted.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique