Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Time to focus on people, not profits

Lee Ken-cheng 李根政

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.

China is only holding Taiwan back

Gerrit Van Der Wees

On Aug. 4, the Wall Street Journal carried an interesting editorial entitled: “Taiwan leaves itself behind,” in which the paper argued that Taiwan needs to ratify the service trade agreement ith China to avoid being further isolated internationally.

Regrettably, the Journal article suffers from a number of misperceptions and therefore draws the wrong conclusions. It is a false premise that — as the article argues — the road to less reliance on China runs through Beijing.

Two anomalies troubling Taiwan

Jerome Keating

The nation of Taiwan is again preparing for a democratic election. This one is set for Nov. 29 and whether described as the seven-in-one or nine-in-one elections, a lot is at stake.

Many say this election could be seen as a bellwether for the coming presidential elections in 2016 as well as an indication of the direction in which Taiwanese identity continues to develop.

However, regardless of whether the pan-green or the pan-blue camp wins, there are other factors continuing to surface in Taiwan that point to its ever-present problem with identity.

Aborigines dispute Morakot rebuild claims

Taipei Times

Rukai Village resident Ngedrelre Druluan, standing, speaks at the Morakot Typhoon Disaster Fifth Anniversary press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Courtesy of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights

As the government celebrates what it termed the “successful reconstruction” of areas devastated by Typhoon Morakot in 2009 and launched an exhibition highlighting reconstruction results, Morakot survivors yesterday accused the government of lying, saying that reconstruction is far from complete.

Morakot is considered the worst storm to hit the nation in 50 years; its massive mudslides caused almost 700 deaths, permanently changed the landscape and forced thousands of people to relocate.

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