During deliberations on nuclear energy issues at the legislature yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) risked a diplomatic flap when he said Japan had mishandled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster because the Japanese are “stupid.”
Speaking at a legislative committee session, Lin said: “Taiwanese have an appalling affection, they worship everything about Japan.”
“They believe if Japanese cannot do it, then Taiwanese also cannot do it. Their emotions remain in the colonial era,” he added.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“I see that Japanese people are very stupid,” he said.
“It is because they are so stubborn and rigid in their thinking that the Fukushima plant became such a big disaster,” he added.
“The Fukushima disaster could have been prevented in other countries around the world. All you needed to do was pour water on it and that would have solved the problem,” Lin said.
His remarks came during a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which had officials tabling reports made by other countries and international organizations, discussing Taiwan’s operation of nuclear plants and disaster response measures in the event of an accident.
Following the controversial comments, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) denounced Lin.
“Japan is one of Taiwan’s allies, yet a ruling party legislator uses such deliberate insults to disparage the people of another nation. I feel bad about this,” Chiu said.
“Lin Yu-fang is a veteran lawmaker with long experience in foreign affairs. How can he malign the people of a neighboring country?” Chiu added.
Chiu asked Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂): “If the same thing were to happen in Japan, like a Japanese Diet member saying Taiwanese are very stupid and are despicable people, how would you react to it? Would it not affect the Taiwan-Japan relationship?”
Lin said that Taiwan and Japan have a close relationship, and that the government would continue to enhance bilateral cooperation in many fields.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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