Local magistrates from the DPP agreed yesterday to "adopt" townships in central Taiwan where earthquake destruction has been the most severe to aid in the reconstruction effort.
DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said that each of the counties and cities governed by the DPP will reach out and shoulder responsibility for getting people back on their feet.
"For example, Hsinchu City will provide educational resources for students from Dali (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The 921 earthquake has caused extensive damage to the central part of the island. Lai Shyh-bao (
"The damages and losses inflicted by the temblor were no smaller than those of the Kobe quake. They spent over US$38 billion in rescue and rehabilitation," Lai said.
The DPP set up a "post earthquake rebuilding committee" on Sept. 29 to coordinate distribution of resources to victims and help with rebuilding efforts.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen, also appointed as convener of the committee, called the first meeting yesterday in Taichung and announced that all 11 DPP local administration chiefs promised to do their best to aid their "areas of responsibility."
The aim of the committee is to cooperate with the central government and mobilize civilian volunteers, he said.
"Community to community, school to school and association to association -- these are the channels we must keep open. We must keep in touch with those on the ground in these areas to understand what is needed and how best to provide for their needs," Chen said.
In addition, Chen reaffirmed that the central and local administrations will work together as partners when undertaking the rebuilding work.
"There is a long road ahead of us; officials -- no matter whether from the central or local government -- must work as partners, there should not be a bureaucratic undertone to their efforts."
Meanwhile, the DPP policy research and coordinating committee proposed a rebuilding act for central Taiwan and urged the legislature to approve it as a special law.
"The Executive Yuan decided to roll over the housing loans for five years for those residents whose houses collapsed during the earthquake. But we are worried that that may cause a financial crisis after the time period is over," said DPP secretary-general Yu Hsi-kun.
"The best method is to set a `post-disaster rebuilding fund' to buy collapsed buildings and land, and then draw up a comprehensive plan to restore the area," Yu said.
He stressed that Taiwan is a living organism, therefore, all residents should share the responsibility for rebuilding devastated areas.
The central bank has announced that it would allocate NT$100 billion in low-interest loans to help the homeless rebuild.
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
ELITE UNIT: President William Lai yesterday praised the National Police Agency’s Special Operations Group after watching it go through assault training and hostage rescue drills The US Navy regularly conducts global war games to develop deterrence strategies against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, aimed at making the nation “a very difficult target to take,” US Acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby said on Wednesday. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Kilby said the navy has studied the issue extensively, including routine simulations at the Naval War College. The navy is focused on five key areas: long-range strike capabilities; countering China’s command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; terminal ship defense; contested logistics; and nontraditional maritime denial tactics, Kilby
RSS