Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Situation at Japan power plant stabilizes ‘somewhat’

Taipei Times

One of six tsunami-crippled nuclear reactors appeared to stabilize yesterday as Japan discovered the first food contaminated by radiation and raced to restore power to the stricken power plant to prevent a greater catastrophe.

Engineers reported some rare success after fire trucks sprayed water for about three hours on reactor No. 3, widely considered the most dangerous at the ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex because of its use of highly toxic plutonium.

“The situation there is stabilizing somewhat,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference.

Denying Taiwanese sovereignty

Liberty Times Editorial

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) often says the Republic of China (ROC) is a sovereign state, and that its sovereignty extends to all China. When dealing with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), however, he does not require that it recognize the ROC as such. This nonsense has made Taiwan a laughing stock to China’s 1.4 billion people.

Hearing Ma’s claims, we want to ask him what the ROC really is. It is not a UN member, nor is it recognized by any major country. Ma claims that the territory of the PRC — a UN member — falls within the ROC’s borders. If we follow this ridiculous claim, the world’s textbooks on international law would all have to be rewritten.

It’s time to expect the unexpected

Taipei Times Editorial

A year that began with uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, tsunami-like flooding in Australia and massive mudslides in Brazil, shows no signs of easing up. From Christchurch’s pulverizing earthquake to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s scorched-earth policy and the escalating disaster in Japan, the world is being rocked on a daily basis. Old certainties can no longer be relied upon.

What is clear is that new standards are now required — in disaster preparedness, in damage-proofing nuclear power stations, in accountability both on the part of government and private industry and in the public’s expectations of themselves. While it is not possible to guarantee against every possibility, much more can be done and the last thing that is needed is bland reassurance from governments, whether in Japan, Taiwan, the US, Egypt, China or elsewhere.

How we can be a good neighbor to the Japanese

Nat Bellocchi 白樂崎

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami which struck Japan last Friday has brought devastation and destruction to large parts of the coastal area near Sendai, northeast of Tokyo. The Japanese authorities are now working hard to bring relief to those affected by the disaster.

As members of the world community we all need to provide all the assistance we can to Japan and its people in their time of need.

Many countries have already sent search and rescue teams and financial aid, but the scale of the disaster is such that it will take a long-term Herculean effort to provide proper care to those who lost their homes, family members and in some instances everything they owned.

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