President William Lai (賴清德) today called for greater mutual aid between Taiwan and Japan in a post commemorating the 15th anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, saying that “true friendship reveals itself in hardship.”
The magnitude 9 earthquake, the largest ever recorded in Japan, and the ensuing tsunami left 18,500 people dead or unaccounted for, and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
It was the world's worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl accident.
Photo: Jiji Press via AFP
Japan and Taiwan share a close bond built on mutual aid and trust, Lai said on Facebook, adding that he hopes they would continue to help each other through times of disaster.
Both nations lie along fault lines prone to earthquakes, and share deep historical ties, he said.
The two sides should expand cooperation in disaster prevention, humanitarian assistance and social resilience, enabling both to remain trusted and important partners to each other, he said.
Taiwan would remember those who lost their lives in the 2011 quake and learn the lessons of history, while Japan would never forget that Taiwan showed up to help at the first sign of crisis, he said.
Regardless of political affiliation, Taiwanese donated what they could and contributed their efforts wherever possible, he added.
Government and civilian search-and-rescue teams assembled and departed for Japan within 72 hours, he said.
Similarly, Japan has come to Taiwan’s aid during natural disasters such as the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and Typhoon Morakot in 2009, dispatching its own search-and-rescue teams, Lai said.
Lai said he would “never forget” that when a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Tainan in 2016, Japan sent a preliminary assessment team that arrived at the site in just 14 hours to assist with relief efforts.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan also donated supplies, funds and vaccines to Taiwan, he added.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS