Comments that President Ma Ying-jeou made to an international news crew about the rescue efforts following Typhoon Morakot yesterday angered some of the storm’s victims after they were translated into Chinese.

While inspecting Jiaxian Township in Kaohsiung County, where Xiaolin Village was completely wiped out, Independent Television Network (ITN) reporter Rahit Kachroo asked Ma if Taiwan should have been better prepared for the storm, to which Ma replied, in English, that the villagers were caught by surprise, which contributed to the losses.

The daughter of a missing Taitung police officer, Chiang Wen-hsiang, stands at the side of a flooded river and cries out for her father in Taitung yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

The Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan yesterday decided against calling on the president to declare a state of emergency.

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng said after a meeting with Premier Liu Chao-shiuan and the three legislative caucuses that they believed the government could handle disaster and relief procedures based on the provisions listed in the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act.

Criticism poured in for Myanmar yesterday over the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi as the EU promised more sanctions and one of its key regional partners called for the democracy icon's immediate release.

After the authorities ordered the Nobel laureate to remain under house arrest for a further 18 months following a trial in Yangon, protesters rallied outside Myanmar's diplomatic missions to denounce the outcome.