Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

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.

PRC missile could render PAC-3s obsolete

Taipei Times

A new longer-range ballistic missile allegedly deployed by China and the introduction of multiple warhead capabilities could render obsolete Taiwan’s most advanced missile interceptors, analysts said yesterday.

National Security Bureau (NSB) Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) told the legislature on Wednesday that China had recently begun deploying Dong Feng-16 (DF-16) ballistic missiles with a range of between 800km and 1,000km, and that some were targeting Taiwan.

Japan nuclear crisis sparks mass exodus

Taipei Times

Alarm over Japan’s nuclear disaster grew yesterday, with more foreign governments advising citizens to flee Tokyo as army helicopters dumped water on the overheating plant at the center of the crisis.

Six days after a massive earthquake and tsunami plunged Japan into its worst crisis since World War II, the US and Britain chartered flights for nationals trying to leave and China moved thousands of citizens to Tokyo for evacuation.

Commercial airline tickets were scarce and some companies hired private jets to evacuate staff. In Tokyo, the streets were quiet but calm as the Japanese, though deeply concerned, mostly remained stoic over the emergency.

Ma and the call for US to abandon Taiwan

James Wang 王景弘

Former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and the now forgotten Yen Chia-kan (嚴家淦) ruled Taiwan for 39 years. The pro-localization governments of former presidents Lee Teng-huei (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were in power for 20 years.

In these 59 years, nobody ever talked about the Finlandization of Taiwan, nor did anyone openly advocate the US abandoning Taiwan and allowing China to annex it to avoid conflict with Beijing.

However, after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has been in office for a mere three years, both these things have happened. A series of egghead academics in the US have come out with these suggestions, which are very damaging to Taiwan’s survival and national interests.

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