Wed, Jul 26, 2000 page8

• Editorial: A revolting feeding frenzy

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  Saturday's Pachang Creek (八掌溪) incident has stir-red up an unprecedented political storm for Taiwan's two-month-old government. Under enormous pressure from the media and opposition parties, Premier Tang Fei's (唐飛) Cabinet quickly announced on Monday a list of 13 officials who would receive administrative punishments. Yesterday, it went a step further and approved the resignations of Vice Premier Yu Shyi-kun and the directors of the National Fire Administration and the National Police Administration.

  It is not so often that we in Taiwan see punishments of such scale in the government.

  However, Saturday's incident was just as much the result of a natural disaster as it was of human negligence. This regrettable accident was the result of inclement weather and lower-level bureaucratic bungling. It was not the result of a major policy error. As premier, Tang should not take political responsibility for this incident. We support President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) decision to keep Tang in the premier's post. We are also relieved by Tang's decision yesterday to stay on.

  We have, however, been appalled to see, in the days following the incident, political parties using the tragedy as grounds for an ugly, vicious political struggle. The waves of criticism from opposition politicians, as well as their posturing, resemble nothing so much as a pack of sharks lured by the smell of blood into a feeding frenzy. The Pacheng Creek tragedy has revealed the ugly faces of Taiwan's politicians for all to see.

  For example, former provincial governor James Soong (宋楚瑜) made the ludicrous statement on Monday that the incident was a result of the downsizing of the provincial government, which he claimed had jeopardized the functions of the rescue command system. Obviously, by trying to link these two totally unconnected matters, Soong hoped to use the incident to reinforce his presentation of himself as a political victim -- even as he called on the political parties not to use the tragedy as a tool for power struggles. Perhaps he hoped a cloak of moral rectitude could to cover up his naked desire for power.

  Soong's People First Party was the first to cast stones in the wake of the Pacheng tragedy, telling the local media on Sunday that the government was a "murderer." Obviously, the PFP apparently hoped its ruthless initiative against the government would pay off in the ballot box.

  KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) was next off the mark, calling Chen's administration an "incompetent government." As we pointed out in yesterday's editorial, the tragic deaths of the four workers would probably not have occurred if not for the structural defects that accumulated over decades under KMT rule.

  While the two opposition parties are busy huffing and puffing and trying to blow Chen's house down, they are also trying to conceal their past wrongs. We cannot be sure how many people will blindly follow them in this uproar. But we call on politicians not to underestimate the public's judgment. Using the incident for political gain may not yield the benefits they so desire.

  No one in the world is free of error, nor is any government. The new government's "error" lies in the fact that the disaster occurred before it could start reforming long-standing systemic defects and getting rid of the political and administrative trash left by its predecessors.

  We hope the opposition politicians who are trying to grandstand with this tragedy will stop this disgusting capitalizing on misfortune. The opposition should remember that sharks are not usually a species that invoke sympathy -- and they are quick to turn on one of their own who is injured.
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