I was still in my research office late on the first night after returning to Tamkang University for the new academic year when the lights went out and the building shook with the earth in the darkness. I had the same feelings I did when Beijing was ruffled by the 1976 Tangshan earthquake (
This earthquake, the strongest in Taiwan history, has caused almost 2,000 deaths so far. Through the day, Taiwanese soldiers held their tears and bravely pulled survivors from the rubble. Taiwanese TV transmitted the scenes to the rest of the world. Shocked by the news that Taiwan has been "attacked by a hellish earthquake," the world held out a helping hand. Many rescue teams have already arrived.
Most impressive was the unity, composure and compassion shown by the Taiwanese people when facing the catastrophe. Team after team of volunteers rushed to the frontlines. The government, public, military and local people moved in step with each other. Saving lives was their top priority. No illegal activities or looting amid the disaster were reported. All political parties suspended their election campaign activities, while most of the candidates visited the frontlines of the disaster. Instead of making noise to attract press attention individually, they avoided the media and put all their efforts into rescue work.
Most of the politicians have suspended their war of words and walked deep into disaster areas. However, while most of the TV stations are airing live coverage from the affected areas, there was a lonely presidential candidate on one channel, grinning and calling other people names on the screen, using allusions from classical texts, talking about how a certain emperor put the blame on himself after a certain earthquake, and how a certain minister resigned to take responsibility, etc.
Indeed, during the reign of emperors, the will of the public could not be realized. Thus, natural disasters became a good opportunity for power shifts. Taiwan is a democratic country, as proven by the transparent handling of the quake's aftermath. Based on these realities, the Taiwanese people can take this opportunity to give a litmus test to politicians. From this, they can make independent judgments and choices. They do not have to be deluded by "classics."
Disasters test the capabilities of a country and the quality of a society. I remember, during the Tangshan earthquake in 1976, the Chinese Communist Party was in the last days of its Cultural Revolution. Chinese society was in a state of terror following the suppression of the April 5 Tienanmen incident. The country was on the fringe of an economic breakdown. Communist China flatly turned down the helping hand held out by the international community. The rescue work proceeded in a highly secretive atmosphere. The death toll remains a mystery to this day, but we can be sure it was the highest ever in recorded human history in connection with an earthquake.
In contrast, the rescue work in Taiwan is transparent. The world has seen the "hellish earthquake" that struck the Taiwanese people, as well as their all-out rescue efforts.
From architecture to human hearts, from government to political parties, Taiwan has come under a microscope. After just one day, people started asking questions such as:
Why did some of the buildings remain intact while others in the same area collapsed? In answer to this, shoddy construction came to light from the cracks and fissures. But it is not just a problem of construction companies making illegal profits at the expense of public safety as some people undoubtedly think. It also involves the systemic problem of government-business complicity, recently discussed by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (
Also, amid the support and friendly voices from the international community, there are inevitably some noises. China Central Television aired a spokesperson from Beijing's Ministry of Foreign Affairs appearing at a press conference. He said, "China thanks the international community for the aid given to the earthquake disaster area of Taiwan." Is it looting amid a disaster or fishing in troubled waters? Trying to make Taiwan an "earthquake disaster area" of China?
Democratic Taiwan cannot be bullied. The Taiwanese people have been through much suffering. I believe they will be reborn from fire like a phoenix -- with even more strength and composure to step into the new millennium.
Ruan Ming is a visiting professor at Tamkang University and former special assistant to the Chinese Communist Party's Secretary-General Hu Yaobang (
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
In China, competition is fierce, and in many cases suppliers do not get paid on time. Rather than improving, the situation appears to be deteriorating. BYD Co, the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer by production volume, has gained notoriety for its harsh treatment of suppliers, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability. The case also highlights the decline of China’s business environment, and the growing risk of a cascading wave of corporate failures. BYD generally does not follow China’s Negotiable Instruments Law when settling payments with suppliers. Instead the company has created its own proprietary supply chain finance system called the “D-chain,” through which
RSS