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MORAKOT: THE AFTERMATH: DPP urges MAC to bar Chin’s Chinese aid

Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin, seated center, talks about the support she has received in China at a press conference at Peking Hotel in Beijing yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) must stop Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) from accepting a 20 million yuan (US$3 million) flood relief donation from China, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.

DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the money violated the Act Governing Relations between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).

Cheng said that, according to the Act, the Straits Exchange Foundation was the sole contact window between the governments on either side of the Strait.

“This means that any donations from China must be handled by the SEF and not an individual. China is clearly using Chin as a poster child for their unification strategy,” he said, criticizing China for using Chin’s background — she is half Atayal — to promote unification.

Chin is known for her outspoken disdain for Japan for its cruel treatment of Taiwanese and Aborigines during World War II. She has led several groups to Japan to protest at the Yasukuni Shrine, dedicated to Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, which includes the names of 28,000 Taiwanese and 21,000 Korean soldiers, most of whom were forced to serve in the Japanese army.

Many bloggers and netizens joined the chorus castigating Chin for “sleeping with the enemy,” with one Plurker panning Chin for disgracing her Atayal heritage.

The DPP also repeated its request that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) immediately reshuffle his Cabinet and remove Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), who has been a target of blame over the government’s slow flood response and relief operation in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot.

“Unless we have a new team heading up the relief and reconstruction operation, the same problems of slowness and disorganization will reoccur. The victims will continue to suffer at the hands of this incompetent government,” he said, responding to media reports that Ma was leaning toward keeping the Cabinet intact.

He said various public opinion polls have shown the approval rating for the Ma administration has plummeted to less than 20 percent and more than 67 percent of respondents to one poll said Liu should step down. The president’s refusal to reshuffle the Cabinet would be blatant disrespect of public opinion, Cheng said.

Meanwhile, in her own defense, Chin yesterday said accepting a disaster relief donation from China was not illegal and that anyone who wanted to could monitor her distribution of the funds. Chin promised the funds would be used transparently and that proper records would be kept. The records would be made available to the donor, to the Straits Exchange Foundation and to anyone else who wished to see them, she said.

“The MAC is also welcome to help disburse the funds, if it has the time,” she said, adding that there was no law to prevent her from accepting the donation on behalf of Aboriginal typhoon victims.

In adherence to the donor’s wishes, the money would be used to help rehabilitate families in minor Aboriginal tribes who lost their homes in the massive flooding and landslides triggered by the storm, she said.

She also said she would hold a presentation today in Sandimen Township (三地門), Pingtung County, to inform residents about the donation and solicit the opinions of typhoon victims there on how the money should be used.

Also See: EDITORIAL: A bribe by any other name
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