Public outrage over the government's failure to rescue four workers washed away in Pachang Creek (
"On behalf of the government, I apologize to the people and society," Tang said during a news conference yesterday afternoon, saying that the government was still investigating and clarifying who was responsible and that the result would be out by this morning at the latest.
Four workers carrying out riverbed construction work in Pachang Creek were surrounded by the quickly rising torrent on Saturday afternoon. The four stood in the center of the river for three hours, waiting for a helicopter that never came, and were finally washed away at around 7:08pm in sight of family members and helpless would-be rescuers on the riverbank.
PHOTO: CHEN CHING-MIN, LIBERTY TIMES
The body of one victim, Lin Chung-ho (
The sight of the four, two of them a couple, embracing each other and resisting the torrent was seen by the nation on television.
The family members and friends of the dead and disappeared yesterday protested against the Air Force base at their Chiayi base, for their not having dispatched a rescue helicopter.
PHOTO: CHEN CHING-MIN, LIBERTY TIMES
Strong reaction also came from the main opposition parties.
"There is no difference between this kind of incompetent government and a murderer," PFP spokesman Sun Ta-chien (孫大千) said at a press conference yesterday.
The KMT said that the government is "slow in rescuing and swift in shifting responsibility."
Tang Fei, on the other hand, promised to severely punish those responsible and improve the rescue system.
"We will make an overall re-examination of related regulations and make immediate reforms to clarify responsibilities and establish a unified co-ordination mechanism. We will also seek the resolution of any inadequacy of staff or equipment. Top priority will be given to improving efficiency and saving people's lives," Tang said.
Though he said that an investigation of responsibility needed to be very carefully carried out, he hinted that the Fire Department of Chiayi County had made a wrong report in the first place.
"The Fire Department should have known that when the site of the incident is under the height of 2,500m the request (for a helicopter) should be made to the airborne police (rather than the Air Force), and this is a focus of our investigation," Tang said.
According to Chiayi County Fire Department, they requested help from the Air Force's Chiayi base at 5:55pm and turned to the air police at 6:20pm when their request was denied by the Air Force.
The Air Force at the time told the Fire Department that according to regulations it was the air police's job to carry out rescues in areas under the height of 2,500m.
But the nearest air police base was in Taichung, and when the helicopter took off at around 7:10pm, the victims had already been swept away, according to Chiayi Fire Department records.
Asked if such regulations might have hindered the rescue work, Tang Fei said that the division of tasks was necessary because the resources of any rescue unit are limited.
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS