Typhoon Morakot brought more than 2,000mm of rain in several places and the worst flooding in the south in 50 years. Many roads and bridges were destroyed and houses flooded, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people.
While the main reason for the disaster was the enormous rainfall, it is clear that government preparations, public construction and emergency response abilities leave much to be desired. This is nothing new. Despite decades of having to deal with typhoons and flooding, it appears the government’s institutional ability to handle such problems is as water-logged as the homes in Pingtung. There are three clear shortcomings that need to be rectified and quickly.
First, the Central Weather Bureau’s (CWB) forecasting must be improved. The bureau issued a warning on Thursday for torrential rain in the areas north of Chiayi. The hardest hit areas, however, turned out to be Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties, while Taipei and Taichung saw just light winds and moderate rainfall. The original estimates said Kaohsiung and Pingtung would receive about 300mm of rain, but as soon as the typhoon reached Taiwan, this was adjusted upward several times, to more than 2,000mm. Nevertheless, southern residents lost precious preparation time.
When the bureau misjudged Typhoon Kalmaegi in July last year, it was criticized by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and received a warning from the Control Yuan. Morakot has highlighted the bureau’s inadequacies once again. However, as Kao Chia-Chuen (高家俊) pointed out in his opinion piece last year (“Accurate forecasting takes money,” July 30, 2008, page 8), budget constraints have left the bureau without any sea-based observation platforms to monitor typhoons. If more money is needed to improve the storm forecasting, the government and the legislature must ensure such monies are found.
The government has initiated several flood prevention projects in the past few years, investing more than NT$80 billion during Frank Hsieh’s (謝長廷) term as premier, and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan’s (劉兆玄) Cabinet approved several bridge maintenance projects in its economic booster scheme.
Morakot’s onslaught, however, highlighted the inefficiency and slow implementation of these projects. The flood-prevention portion of the many river dredging projects in central and southern Taiwan have not gone far enough, the subcontracting process is too slow and quality controls are too lax. It’s not so much that these projects can’t stop flooding, but rather that they were only half finished when the flooding began and then the floodwaters either damaged whatever progress has been made or washed it away.
There have also been serious communication problems. Mobilization and direction was too slow, leaving residents nowhere to turn for help. Although government disaster prevention centers have been established at both the national and local levels, there were many complaints that the centers’ telephone numbers didn’t work. People were forced to rely on TV talk show call-in lines instead of the government’s rescue hotlines.
When the government was asked to deploy disaster relief teams after the typhoon struck, the response was slow; the army was not mobilized until Saturday, thus extending the suffering of many people. The disaster centers’ ability to coordinate resources and manpower showed great shortcomings, and communication between the local and central levels was ineffective, and was subsequently criticized by the premier. For example, in Pingtung County a request for rubber boats was reported as a need for vehicles.
The typhoon season has only just begun, and Morakot has given the government a brusque wake-up call. The disaster prevention system is coming apart at the seams, and if nothing is done quickly, the next typhoon will exact another heavy toll.
I came to Taiwan to pursue my degree thinking that Taiwanese are “friendly,” but I was welcomed by Taiwanese classmates laughing at my friend’s name, Maria (瑪莉亞). At the time, I could not understand why they were mocking the name of Jesus’ mother. Later, I learned that “Maria” had become a stereotype — a shorthand for Filipino migrant workers. That was because many Filipino women in Taiwan, especially those who became house helpers, happen to have that name. With the rapidly increasing number of foreigners coming to Taiwan to work or study, more Taiwanese are interacting, socializing and forming relationships with
Chinese social media influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣), whose real name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), made statements advocating for “reunifying Taiwan [with China] through military force.” After verifying that Liu did indeed make such statements, the National Immigration Agency revoked her dependency-based residency permit. She must now either leave the country voluntarily or be deported. Operating your own page and becoming an influencer require a certain amount of support and user traffic. You must successfully gain approval for your views and attract an audience. Although Liu must leave the country, I cannot help but wonder how many more “Yayas” are still
Earlier signs suggest that US President Donald Trump’s policy on Taiwan is set to move in a more resolute direction, as his administration begins to take a tougher approach toward America’s main challenger at the global level, China. Despite its deepening economic woes, China continues to flex its muscles, including conducting provocative military drills off Taiwan, Australia and Vietnam recently. A recent Trump-signed memorandum on America’s investment policy was more about the China threat than about anything else. Singling out the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a foreign adversary directing investments in American companies to obtain cutting-edge technologies, it said
The recent termination of Tibetan-language broadcasts by Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a significant setback for Tibetans both in Tibet and across the global diaspora. The broadcasts have long served as a vital lifeline, providing uncensored news, cultural preservation and a sense of connection for a community often isolated by geopolitical realities. For Tibetans living under Chinese rule, access to independent information is severely restricted. The Chinese government tightly controls media and censors content that challenges its narrative. VOA and RFA broadcasts have been among the few sources of uncensored news available to Tibetans, offering insights
RSS