As the New Year approached, most people were busy making plans to celebrate. Tainan County had a unique idea. To draw attention to the serious problems posed by the silting up of the Zengwun and Nanhua reservoirs, Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chi (蘇煥智) organized a “Zengwun Reservoir New Year’s Eve Countdown Party.”
Su even had invitations made out of driftwood collected from the reservoir and sent one to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), asking him if he would like to attend.
Su is very concerned about water management and believes the authorities need to take it more seriously. He realizes that water management problems are too big to be solved on the local level, and require resources that only the central government can provide.
Naturally, the president already had his New Year’s Eve mapped out for him: He was due to make an appearance at the countdown in Taipei’s Civic Plaza, and so he couldn’t make Su’s party.
However, he did find time to visit the reservoir on the afternoon of Jan. 3. This is commendable considering that, as chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), he had commitments elsewhere ahead of last Saturday’s legislative by-elections in Taoyuan, Taitung and Taichung counties.
The drought and resulting low water levels in the reservoirs have wider implications than just a water shortage. Without water, we can expect poor harvests and a subsequent food shortage. An issue as serious as this warrants national engagement, and ideally the public should join in the effort and use water sparingly.
Our water resources are every bit as important as our national security and are an issue that transcends the political divide between pan-blue and pan-green.
National leaders should take a water shortage seriously and make every effort to ensure an adequate water supply. This is, in fact, their duty.
Ma is faced with a bit of a paradox. As chairman of his party, he has to nominate candidates for elections and support them during their campaigns. However, he is also the president of the country, so he has to decide what his priorities are when it comes to party affairs and political matters.
Basically, it comes down to the ability to make rational decisions that the public has a right to expect of the president. One thing is for sure: If Ma wants the public to vote for the candidates he supports, there is no better way to woo voters than formulating and implementing good policies.
Hong Chi-chang is former chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation and a former Democratic Progressive Party legislator.
TRANSLATED BY PAUL COOPER
In the event of a war with China, Taiwan has some surprisingly tough defenses that could make it as difficult to tackle as a porcupine: A shoreline dotted with swamps, rocks and concrete barriers; conscription for all adult men; highways and airports that are built to double as hardened combat facilities. This porcupine has a soft underbelly, though, and the war in Iran is exposing it: energy. About 39,000 ships dock at Taiwan’s ports each year, more than the 30,000 that transit the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of their inbound tonnage is coal, oil, refined fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG),
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
To counter the CCP’s escalating threats, Taiwan must build a national consensus and demonstrate the capability and the will to fight. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) often leans on a seductive mantra to soften its threats, such as “Chinese do not kill Chinese.” The slogan is designed to frame territorial conquest (annexation) as a domestic family matter. A look at the historical ledger reveals a different truth. For the CCP, being labeled “family” has never been a guarantee of safety; it has been the primary prerequisite for state-sanctioned slaughter. From the forced starvation of 150,000 civilians at the Siege of Changchun
The two major opposition parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), jointly announced on Tuesday last week that former TPP lawmaker Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) would be their joint candidate for Chiayi mayor, following polling conducted earlier this month. It is the first case of blue-white (KMT-TPP) cooperation in selecting a joint candidate under an agreement signed by their chairpersons last month. KMT and TPP supporters have blamed their 2024 presidential election loss on failing to decide on a joint candidate, which ended in a dramatic breakdown with participants pointing fingers, calling polls unfair, sobbing and walking
RSS