Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

 
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Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

What next for the disaster zones?

Two weeks have passed since Typhoon Morakot brought disastrous floods and landslides to southern and central Taiwan. According to the three-stage view of disaster relief, we have now entered the second phase: short-term recovery.

However, many tasks associated with the first phase — emergency rescue — have not been completed. For example, defining disaster zones, exhuming bodies, evacuating the injured and so on. The window of opportunity for most of these tasks has passed. The authorities have come under a lot of criticism for their slow response, and the government’s abilities to handle the disaster are not up to scratch.

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What was the NSC's role in US aid delays?

A week after Typhoon Morakot wreaked havoc in southern Taiwan, US Marine helicopters landed here for the first time since the US switched political recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979.

The helicopters are stationed at the US military base in Okinawa, Japan — less than 1,000km from Taiwan — yet they needed eight days to get here, thus missing the critical 72-hour post-disaster window.

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The political disaster is just starting

The government’s procrastination and passive attitude toward relief efforts in southern Taiwan is bringing additional suffering to victims of the disaster. The nation is in uproar and support for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) has dropped below 20 percent. Although Ma says a Cabinet reshuffle is on the cards, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) has said that Ma and Liu will not discuss the issue until next month, suggesting that Liu will stay.

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Ma Ying-jeou, the Sycophant Syndrome, and the KMT's New Dilemma

Taiwan's Typhoon Morakot did more than finalize how Ma Ying-jeou in true Peter Principle fashion had risen far beyond the level of his competence. It also exposed what may be called the Sycophant Syndrome and a dilemma for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Let's deal with the Sycophant Syndrome first.

When people rise beyond the level of their competence, some will know it and seek a way to bow out gracefully. Others when facing the discrepancy between their duties and their capabilities will hire competent people under them to compensate for what they lack.

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Newsflash

In a move aimed to reinforce US-Taiwan relations, Republican Representative Steve Chabot on Wednesday introduced legislation to the US Congress to “reaffirm” the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the “six assurances.”

“The Taiwan Relations Act and the ‘six assurances’ together form the cornerstone of US relations with Taiwan,” said Chabot, former chairman of the Asian subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.