Legislators from across party lines yesterday lambasted the central government for its inadequate response to Wednesday’s crash of TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 in Taipei, saying that it did not take control of emergency operations from local governments until three days after the accident occurred.
The Disaster Prevention and Rescue Law (災害防救法) stipulates that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is the designated authority in charge of rescue operations in an aviation accident, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said, adding that Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Chien-yu (陳建宇) failed to immediately set up an emergency command center to facilitate rescue operations.
DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) said that the central government established the National Rescue Command Center following the Pachang Creek Incident (八掌溪事件) in 2008 — in which four workers were swept away by a flash flood after waiting to be rescued in the middle of the creek for more than two hours — to immediately respond to air crashes or marine accidents.
However, Wednesday’s crash demonstrated that central government officials are incapable of any action other than offering condolences to the families of victims, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Kuo-cheng (林國正) said that the central government should have played a more active role in the emergency operations, adding that the government’s ineffectiveness was particularly curious, seeing as Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) previously served as transportation minister from 2008 to 2013.
However, Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) rejected the allegation that the central government was not doing its best, saying that the army and coast guard had been dispatched to join rescue operations from day one, and that the central government had established an emergency response center at the same time as Taipei and New Taipei City, with the Chen coordinating operations from the center and Vice Premier Simon Chang (張善政) at the crash site.
Mao asked Minister of National Defense Kao Kuang-chi (高廣圻) to commit army troops to the crash site and asked the transportation ministry, the Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation to contact the families of passengers immediately after the crash, Sun said.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final