Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

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

Lai I-chung 賴怡忠

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.

The political disaster is just starting

Taipei Times

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.

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

Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

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.

THE LIBERTY TIMES EDITORIAL: Ma is at wit's end — and so are we

Taipei Times

After being on the receiving end of criticism in Taiwan and in the international press for more than a week, President Ma Ying-jeou called press conferences for domestic and international media on Tuesday. But they were a disappointment.

Ma said that the process of relocating victims of Typhoon Morakot and rebuilding communities would be long but that he would not shirk his responsibilities. He also said he would show the public that he could do the job, and asked that the public wait before passing judgment.

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