The Hualien County Government allocated NT$67.5 million (US$2.3 million) to purchase 135,000 emergency evacuation and first aid kits, which are being distributed to Hualien residents free of charge.
In a politically-charged Facebook post, the county government emphasized that there was “no need to spend NT$1,380” on each kit.
However, the emergency kits are covered in simplified Chinese characters, with Hualien County Commissioner Hsu Chen-wei’s (徐榛蔚) name boldly printed on them. There have even been reports that some of the rechargeable flashlights in the kits caught fire while charging. Are the kits meant to prevent a disaster or cause one?
Why did the county government specifically criticize the price of NT$1,380? It is because Kuma Academy, a nonprofit civil defense organization, priced its new disaster prevention kits at that exact amount. Preparing an emergency kit is clearly a good thing, so why has the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) criticized Kuma Academy?
The reality is that a close comparison of the items provided in the two kits reveals that the academy’s are better designed for extreme conditions.
First, the kit contains a portable lightweight water filter, which has a membrane with a pore size of about 200 nanometers. Made with materials developed in Taiwan, it is the world’s smallest outdoor water filter — measuring just 5cm in length, 3cm in width and weighing only 13g. It can filter up to 1,000 liters of water. To use it, you simply fill a water bottle with water, attach the filter to the opening, and you can drink the water directly.
The kit’s emergency water drop light, made in Japan, weighs just 22g and is about the same size as a bottle of eye drops. It requires no batteries — just a splash of water to activate — and can emit light for up to 168 hours. It also has a shelf life of 10 years.
The aluminum emergency blanket is designed to block thermal radiation, helping to retain body temperature during emergencies.
The kit also contains protective gloves that are certified to EU safety standards. They are woven from fiberglass, copper wire and basalt yarn for harsh environments.
The kit also includes a copper whistle. Designed without a ball, the whistle can reliably produce a high-frequency sound without the risk of sudden silence. It could be used to signal for help when trapped or in trouble.
With the exception of the Japanese-made light, all of the products in the kit are made in Taiwan. Some even contain patented technologies developed by Taiwanese.
The KMT argues that the items should cost only NT$300 to NT$400, but the water filter alone costs NT$480, and its patented technology is developed entirely in Taiwan. Could the KMT be claiming that Taiwanese technology is not worth even that price?
Kuma Academy has become a target, proving that it is a thorn in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) side. It provides high-quality survival gear — all made in Taiwan — leaving China unable to cut off supplies. Its products greatly improve the chance of survival for people in extreme conditions. Aside from disaster preparedness, they also increase the public’s resistance against any attempts by the CCP to invade Taiwan.
Emergency gear produced by Taiwanese manufacturers is being portrayed by the KMT as expensive and impractical, and this negative image is spread through media coverage. Is this not precisely a form of the CCP’s large-scale external propaganda and cognitive warfare?
A scenario where — as a result of the KMT’s rhetoric and negative media coverage — excellent Taiwanese manufacturers withdraw from the market and Taiwanese consumers opt to purchase Chinese products would serve the CCP’s interests perfectly. Is that what the KMT is trying to accomplish?
Liou Je-wei is a graduate student of political science at National Taiwan University.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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