No fighting, just aid
The subhead of yesterday’s Taipei Times’ front page article (“KMT downplays Ma comment,” May 3, page 1,) said: “... during an interview with Christiane Amanpour that he would ‘never’ ask the US to aid Taiwan in a war.” This is counter to what President Ma (Ying-jeou [馬英九]) actually stated and meant.
According to the president’s verbatim response to CNN, he stated that “we will purchase arms from the United States, but we will never ask the Americans to fight for Taiwan.”
The president specifically stated “fight,” which clearly points to deployment of US troops, as opposed to the Taipei Times’ interpretation of “aid,” which would have broader ramifications such as US arms sales to Taiwan and other assistance.
The two words are clearly very different and I hope that as one of the major and most respected English newspapers in Taiwan, the Taipei Times would seek to adhere to the original interpretation of the president’s words for the benefit of your wide audience.
PAUL CHANG
Director of Public Affairs, Office of the President
(Editor’s note: The president’s exact response to the question was included in the text of the story.)
Lessons from Haiti quake
Haiti, the only nation ever born of a slave revolt, measures only 27,750km², but boasts a staggering 9.8 million inhabitants.
Like all Caribbean nations, Haiti is often hit by tropical storms and hurricanes from June to November. Even though the island of Hispaniola, of which Haiti occupies half, is seismically active and has a history of earthquakes — the latest recorded in 1860 — Haitians were not prepared for Mother Nature’s turn of fate.
Jan. 12 will stand as an unforgettable date in Haiti’s history. At 4:53pm, a catastrophic magnitude 7 earthquake shook the country for approximately a 35 seconds; the epicenter just 25km from the capital, Port-au-Prince. Within two hours, eight aftershocks of magnitudes between 4.3 and 5.9 were recorded; in the next nine hours, 12 more aftershocks of magnitudes 5 or higher were recorded.
Haiti immediately declared a state of emergency. Pledges of funds and humanitarian aid rushed in from all over the globe, while heads of state promised solidarity. Not only historical buildings and national landmarks were destroyed, but shantytown homes and hospitals collapsed as well, while 1 million people were made homeless. Worse still, about 250,000 lives were lost and 300,000 were left injured.
Taipei Medical University (TMU) was the first institution to issue a press release allowing me to express my concerns and plead to the general public for their generous contributions. From Jan. 19 to Feb. 17, I had the opportunity to join forces first with Taiwan Roots Medical Peace Corps, then Taiwan International Health Action and lastly with the medical mission of the International Cooperation Development Fund. I had the chance to work in Port-au-Prince near the airport with those three groups of doctors, nurses and medical personnel providing consultations. We also went at night to l’Hopital de l’Universite d’Etat d’Haiti, where we assisted other medical teams. Those three Taiwanese teams did an incredible job, showing how important this humanitarian mission was for them.
It was the hardest, most powerful, richest, saddest, most challenging, most unforgettable, most rewarding experience of my life. If I had the opportunity to erase the bad things I saw, I would certainly erase the Jan. 12 quake, but nevertheless, I learned a lot of lessons from the tragedy, such as humility, gratitude and happiness. I had the chance to meet incredible people who helped without any expectation of gain, giving simply because of the love of God, the positive things they could do for the country, the belief in miracles, hope and faith.
NADJY JOSEPH
Health Care Administration Department,
Taipei Medical University
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