Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

 
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Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The error of prioritizing economics over safety

As an island on the Western edge of the Pacific Ocean, Taiwan is vulnerable to tropical cyclones that develop into typhoons, while its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” makes earthquakes a frequent occurrence. We cannot avoid natural disasters such as these; we can only respond to them.

What about man-made disasters? Industrial development involves hidden dangers. How serious the risks are depends on how well the government manages industrial growth, as well as the social conscience and responsibility of business leaders. Nuclear power and petrochemicals are particularly risky. They are like bombs that could explode at any time.

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PROFILE: Resilient cultural campaigner pushes for local language studies despite ills


Union of Education in Taiwan chairperson Cheng Cheng-iok holds a high-school Chinese textbook while speaking at a meeting in Taipei on Feb. 21.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times

Despite having cancer, 68-year-old Union of Education in Taiwan chairperson Cheng Cheng-iok (鄭正煜) said he would continue urging the Ministry of Education to keep mandatory local language courses for the upcoming junior-high school year.

Born in 1946 in Cieding (茄萣) in what is now Greater Kaohsiung, Cheng became a junior-high school teacher after graduating from Chinese Culture University’s history department.

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Inappropriate industrial environment

The gas pipeline explosions on July 31 and Aug. 1 in Greater Kaohsiung that killed 30 people, injured 310 and left a neighborhood devastated was a tragedy, but a press conference held by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) discussing the disaster was also tragic.

Since the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime relocated to Taiwan, economic development has been industry-driven, with the creation of labor-intensive manufacturing zones, the “homes as factories” policy, petrochemical industrial zones, science parks and industrial parks.

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Time to focus on people, not profits

Who exactly is responsible for the death and destruction in Greater Kaohsiung following the gas pipeline explosions on July 31 and Aug. 1? At present, all of the evidence points to LCY Chemical Corp, a company with a pretty dire environmental record.

The day after the blasts, as Greater Kaohsiung residents assessed the aftermath of the explosions, another accident occurred in Jiangsu Province, Kunshan, China. The explosion at Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products, a company run by a Taiwanese businessman, resulted in almost 70 deaths.

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Newsflash


The business cards of some Taiwanese diplomats posted overseas are pictured in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday denied media reports that it required embassies not to use “Taiwan” on staff name cards, saying the redesign of the cards has not been finalized.