Taiwan has donated more money to earthquake-stricken Japan than any other country or region in the world, surprising the Japanese and making them realize that Taiwanese are true friends, a Japanese magazine reported in its latest issue.
The Shukan Shincho, a weekly magazine issued every Thursday, also ran a photo showing President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) soliciting donations for Japan on TV.
The report said more than 130 countries and regions have come to the aid of Japan in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, such as the US, which has not only donated money, but also mobilized about 18,000 soldiers for assistance.
Photo: Wu Liang-yi, Taipei Times
In addition, Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, has donated ￥82 million (US$1 million), and many relatively poor countries in Africa, such as Sudan, had also contributed funds.
SURPRISED
However, what surprised the Japanese the most was the helping hand extended by Taiwan, the report said.
Taiwan has sent a rescue team and relief goods, and as of April 1, its Red Cross Society had solicited ￥10.99 billion in donations, up to 90 percent of which came from private donors.
Though it has a population of only 23 million, Taiwan has donated even more than the US, the report said.
PAST ACTIONS
The reports also cited a Japanese reporter stationed in Taiwan who said Taiwanesee had not forgotten the goodwill shown by Japan in the wake of Taiwan’s devastating on Sept. 21, 1999 earthquake that left more than 2,000 people dead.
Japan sent a 145-member rescue team and donated NT$1.1 billion (US$37 million) in funds to Taiwan after that natural disaster.
The magazine also cited diplomatic commentator Masahiro Miyazake’s observation that Japan’s pro-China political figures and media have not treated Taiwan well.
Even former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) sent encouraging messages to quake-affected victims, but pro-China media has barely acknowledged Taiwan’s support, he said, observing that true friends are those who are there in difficult times.
APPRECIATION
Meanwhile, Japanese travel agency H.I.S. Co also ran a full-page ad in the largest-circulated newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun to express appreciation to Taiwan.
The ad said Taiwan sent a rescue team and relief goods, and the Red Cross Society had collected ￥11.01 billion as of Tuesday.
Taiwan might be China’s next target after it has “walled off” Hong Kong from the rest of the world with its new national security legislation, Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology fellow Wu Jieh-min (吳介民) said on Thursday. At a seminar organized by the Economic Democracy Union, the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Hong Kong Outlanders and the Judicial Reform Foundation, Wu said that the legislation is simultaneously a fig leaf concealing Beijing’s autocratic rule in Hong Kong and a figurative “Berlin Wall,” denying democratic countries access to Hong Kong. Wu said it is evident that Taiwan would be China’s next target. The
SAFETY CONCERNS: A construction company working nearby admitted to negligence in the incident, and is to pay a fine and other expenses related to damages Residents of homes adjacent to an alleyway in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和) on Saturday were forced to evacuate their homes after the road collapsed, the New Taipei City government said yesterday. An 80m by 4m area in an alleyway on Wenhua Road (文化路) collapsed at 10:39am near an apartment building construction site where work was being done on the project’s foundation. The incident also ruptured an underground gas pipe and tilted several buildings in the area. Residents would not be able to return to their homes until tomorrow or Wednesday, when repairs are expected to be finished, the city government said. Workers
CHALLENGER DEEP: Lin Ying-Tsong was invited by Caladan Oceanic founder Victor Vescovo to join him on a 10-hour long trip in the company’s submersible Taiwanese-American Lin Ying-Tsong (林穎聰) last month became the first person from Asia and the 12th in human history to dive into the deepest part on Earth, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench. Lin, 45, an expert in deep sea acoustics with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, joined US adventurer and Caladan Oceanic founder Victor Vescovo, 54, on June 22 in a descent to the central pool of the Challenger Deep, the deepest point of the trench, which lies at a depth of more than 10,900m. The pair made the descent in a submersible named Limiting Factor, a US$37
ARMS RACE: Two DPP lawmakers said that China’s development model differed from Taiwan’s, as it aims to become a global hegemon, while Taiwan seeks to protect itself Taiwanese national defense experts are split on how Taiwan should respond to the ever-growing budget of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with some advocating for Taiwan to increase defense spending, while others say that little can be done. The Legislative Yuan approved NT$358 billion (US$12.1 billion) for national defense spending across fiscal 2020, a 3.47 percent increase compared with last year, while China’s military budget this year is NT$5.4 trillion, more than 15 times that of Taiwan. Regardless of whether the government adopts a zero-based budgeting method for national defense spending — in which all expenses are justified and approved each
RSS