Toxic ducks spark health scare
　

DIOXIN FILL: While about 9,000 ducks raised on a toxic landfill have been culled, there were concerns that some of the ducks may have been sold in local markets

AGENCIES, TAIPEI
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 1
　

Revelations that ducks contaminated with toxic chemical dioxins and a host of other chemicals may have been sold to consumers have sparked a health scare.

Authorities on Wednesday culled about 9,000 ducks that had been raised on land contaminated with steel furnace slag at a farm in Daliao Township (大寮), Kaohsiung County, after they were found to contain up to five times the recommended maximum level of dioxins, the Council of Agriculture said.

“The contaminated ducks have been destroyed,” Lee Chun-chin (李春進), a council official, told reporters.

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) later confirmed that the ducks also contained levels of copper, nickel, chromium, zinc, arsenic and lead that were two to 10 times the safety limit.

The farm, which covers an area of about 1 hectare and is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence, was a former landfill filled with illegally dumped steel mill slag.

The law stipulates that steel furnace slag can be used for landfill or road paving — but not on farmland.

There were fears that some contaminated ducks from the farm had been sold and eaten by consumers.

The farmer told reporters yesterday that he rented the land from a company 10 years ago, but only began raising ducks there after Typhoon Morakot hit the country in early August and that “not a single duck was sold because they were all killed” in the typhoon.

However, Huang Huan-chang (黃煥彰), an environmental activist and organizer of an environmental protection program at Tainan Community University, told reporters that the duck farm had been in operation since 2006 and provided photos as evidence.

He said he believed that dioxin-contaminated ducks had already been sold on the market.

Huang, who tipped off the government about the contaminated duck farm, said yesterday that there were six other contaminated sites in the county.

The findings prompted the EPA to launch an investigation yesterday.

The seven contaminated zones include Hongsiashan (紅蝦山), Da­pingding (大坪頂) and Luotuo­shan (駱駝山), which were filled with steel slag containing heavy metal compounds two times above safety limits, Huang said.

Some of the sites are still being used to grow pineapples and other crops, Huang said.

At the center of the contaminated areas is Fongshan Reservoir, which holds up to 8.7 million tonnes of water for industrial and household use in the greater Kaohsiung area. A thorough inspection will be needed to determine whether the reservoir is polluted, Huang said.

Yesterday, the EPA took pond-raised tilapia from the duck farm to determine the source of the dioxins in the area. The results will be available in a week.

Initial tests revealed that the amount of dioxins in the soil under the pond was 23.2 pico-grams per gram of fat — 11 times in excess of the EPA standard.

As the duck farm operator had not registered for a license to run the farm as stipulated in the Animal Industry Act, he could face a fine ranging from NT$30,000 to NT$150,000, the county government said.

Exposure to dioxins can affect liver function, the WHO has stated.

UN says hunger stunts some 200 million children
　

DIRE STRAITS: A UNICEF report said more than 90 percent of these children live in Asia and Africa and more than one-third die because of undernutrition

AP, ROME
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 1

Nearly 200 million children in poor countries have stunted growth because of insufficient nutrition, a new report published by UNICEF said before a three-day international summit on world hunger.

The head of a UN food agency, meanwhile, called on the world to join him in a day of fasting ahead of the summit to highlight the plight of 1 billion hungry people.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf said on Wednesday he hoped the fast would encourage action by world leaders who will take part in the meeting at his agency's headquarters starting on Monday.

The UN Children's Fund published a report saying that nearly 200 million children under five in poor countries were stunted by a lack of nutrients in their food.

More than 90 percent of those children live in Africa and Asia and more than one-third of all deaths in that age group are linked to undernutrition, UNICEF said.

While progress has been made in Asia — rates of stunted growth dropped from 44 percent in 1990 to 30 percent last year — there has been little success in Africa. There, the rate of stunted growth was about 38 percent in 1990. Last year, the rate was about 34 percent.

South Asia is a particular hotspot for the problem, with just Afghanistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan accounting for 83 million hungry children under five.

“Unless attention is paid to addressing the causes of child and maternal undernutrition today, the costs will be considerably higher tomorrow,” UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said in a statement.

Diouf said he would begin a 24-hour fast tomorrow morning. The agency also launched an online petition against world hunger through a Web page featuring a video with Diouf counting from one to six to remind visitors that every six seconds a child dies from hunger.

The UN children's agency called for more strategies like vitamin A supplementation and breast-feeding to be promoted more widely. That could cut the death rate in children by up to 15 percent, UNICEF said.

Not everyone agreed.

“It is unrealistic to believe malnutrition can be addressed by any top-down UN scheme,” said Philip Stevens of the International Policy Network — a London-based think tank. “The progress UNICEF's report points to in improving nutrition is almost certainly a result of economic growth, not UN strategies.”

The Rome-based FAO said earlier this year that hunger now affects a record 1.02 billion people globally, or one in six, with the financial meltdown, high food prices, drought and war blamed.

The agency hopes its World Summit on Food Security, with Pope Benedict XVI and about 60 heads of state so far expected to attend, will endorse a new strategy to combat hunger, focusing on increased investment in agricultural development for poor countries.

The long-term increase in the number of hungry is largely tied to reduced aid and private investments earmarked for agriculture since the mid-1980s, FAO said.

Countries like Brazil, Nigeria and Vietnam that have invested in their small farmers and rural poor are bucking the hunger trend, Diouf told the news conference.

They are among 31 countries that have reached or are on track to meet the goal set by world leaders nine years ago to cut the number of hungry people in half by 2015, he said.

“Eradicating hunger is no pipe dream,” Diouf said. “The battle against hunger can be won.”

Rights group calls on China to shut down 'black jails'

AFP, BEIJING
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 1

Chinese state agents regularly abduct citizens and detain them for days or months in secret, illegal “black jails,” subjecting them to physical and psychological abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report yesterday.

The US-based rights group called on China to shut down the detention facilities, many of which it said were housed in state-owned hotels, nursing homes and psychiatric care units, and bring their managers to justice.

“The existence of black jails in the heart of Beijing makes a mockery of the Chinese government's rhetoric on improving human rights and respecting the rule of law,” said Sophie Richardson, the group's Asia advocacy director.

“The government should move swiftly to close these facilities, investigate those running them and provide assistance to those abused in them,” she said in a statement accompanying the report.

Human Rights Watch said it had compiled the report from research carried out in Beijing and several other Chinese cities in April and May, including interviews with 38 people who said they were held in black jails.

The group said many of those imprisoned illegally by government officials, security forces and their agents were petitioners seeking redress from authorities over a variety of problems, from land grabs to police misconduct.

“This is a particularly pernicious form of detention,” Richardson told a press conference in Hong Kong, adding that it was impossible to know how many “black jails” existed or how many detainees were held because there were no records.

There could be 50 black jails in the Beijing area alone, she said.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) reiterated Beijing's denial of the existence of such facilities, telling reporters: “I can assure you that there are no so-called 'black jails' in China.”

He said petitioners were permitted to go through the “proper channels” to air their grievances, and their cases would be handled “according to the law.”

Beijing “follows the principle of listening to the people,” Qin said.

Witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch said guards in black jails routinely subject people to abuses such as physical violence, theft and deprivation of food, sleep and medical care.

Two-thirds of the former detainees interviewed by the rights group said they had been physically abused, and some said they were threatened with sexual violence. Witnesses said minors were among those held.

Guards told a 42-year-old woman from Sichuan Province that if she attempted to escape, they would “take me to the male prison and let [the inmates] take turns raping [me],” the report said.

Local officials set up the jails to ensure that petitioners who have traveled to major cities to air their grievances are detained, punished and sent home, the rights group said.

In this way, they avoid receiving penalties that are imposed if large numbers of petitioners come from their areas, Human Rights Watch said.

“There are significant incentives for local officials to keep petitioners off the street,” Richardson said.

F-16 trade-off needed with PRC: Hickey
　

YOU SCRATCH MY BACK... : Dennis Hickey said the US should agree not to sell jets to Taiwan in exchange for the removal of ballistic missiles that China has pointed at Taiwan
　

By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER , WASHINGTON
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 3

A US professor is urging US President Barack Obama to make a deal with Beijing over the sale of advanced F-16 fighter planes to Taiwan.

“The warplanes should be used as bargaining chips,” said Missouri State University political science professor Dennis Hickey in an article published this week in the Los Angeles Times.

The article appeared on the eve of Obama’s departure on a four-nation tour of Asia, beginning yesterday, that will include two days in China and incorporate direct talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) that are certain to touch on US arms sales to Taiwan.

While the official agenda may be dominated by efforts to resolve the global financial crisis, climate change and nuclear proliferation in North Korea, Hickey said that most analysts agree that Beijing’s primary concern would be Washington’s continued military support of Taiwan.

In particular, the Chinese are known to strongly oppose Taiwan’s request for 66 upgraded F-16 fighters.

“Obama should not bow to Chinese pressure and scuttle the idea of F-16 sales,” Hickey wrote.

He said that the administration ought to explore the possibility of agreeing to a deal similar to that proposed by former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) to former US president George W. Bush in 2002.

“The US should agree not to sell advanced fighters to Taiwan in exchange for the removal of the 1,500 ballistic missiles that China has deployed directly opposite Taiwan,” he said.

“Such an initiative could yield numerous dividends,” Hickey said.

He said that Beijing would seriously consider the proposal because it would generate goodwill in Taiwan.

It would also provide Taipei with tangible evidence that its policy of cooperation and conciliation with China is working.

“The current leaders would be able to more easily move forward with other measures aimed at rapprochement and enhance their prospects for re-election,” the professor said.

He pointed out that US officials have long emphasized that arms sales to Taiwan can serve as a stabilizing factor in East Asian affairs.

But in this instance, he said, the sale of high-profile F-16s would jeopardize relations with Beijing, undermine core US interests and help spark an arms race across the Taiwan Strait.

Hickey concluded: “If Washington uses the prospect of dropping such sales as a bargaining chip to persuade China to remove the missiles, it would help reduce cross-strait tensions, pave the way for closer Sino-American relations and promote peace and stability in the western Pacific.”

“The choice should be obvious,” Hickey said.

KMT criticizes anti-US beef march
　

By Ko Shu-ling and Jenny W. hsu
STAFF REPORTERS
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 3
　

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday criticized the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) planned march tomorrow to oppose the government’s decision to relax restrictions on US beef as an election gambit.

KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said the march was initiated by Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (蘇煥智) of the DPP.

Information the KMT gathered from southern Taiwan indicated that the event was organized to set the stage for Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (?]) and former Presidential Office secretary-general Mark Chen (陳唐山), who have expressed an interest in the party’s nomination for next year’s mayoral election in Tainan City, which will be integrated with Tainan County into a special municipality, Lee said.

Su, along with a number of civic groups, has called on the public to join a demonstration in Taipei tomorrow to protest the central government’s decision to lift the ban on US bone-in beef and beef organs.

The demonstration will start at Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station at 2pm and end on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office, where a rally will take place until 9pm.

Rebutting Lee’s accusation, DPP Spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), at a separate setting yesterday, said the central government’s decision to widen US beef access into Taiwan has spurred strong objection from all sides, especially from the public.

A string of civic groups such as the John Tung Foundation and the Consumers’ Foundation are calling for a referendum to be held on the issue, he pointed out.

Tsai said several pan-blue heads of local government, such as Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), have also spoken out against the lifting of the ban, “but their objection is merely a show because they are unwilling to take concrete action to oppose the policy.”

“The demand for the government to safeguard public health should be backed up with bipartisan support and it is very regrettable that the KMT has chosen to smear the issue and disrespected the people’s will,” Tsai said.

Despite the possibility of the US agreeing to a new round of talks being slim, the DPP will continue to make the demand, Tsai said.

He added that the party would exhaust every measure to force the government to launch fresh talks before considering employing other methods such as organizing a consumer boycott of US beef.

MND plans cross-strait think tank

STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 3

“These people have helped complete reorganization of the Chinese Communist Party and they have been key players in the reforms of the Chinese Army.”— Shuai Hua-ming, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) is planning to establish a think tank to facilitate studies on the cross-strait situation, and particularly on a proposed mechanism to foster mutual trust between the military on both sides, an MND official said yesterday.

Vice Defense Minister Chao Shih-chang (趙世璋) urged legislators to support his proposal to establish the think tank, which he said would study a wide range of subjects.

Meanwhile, at a hearing of the Legislative Yuan Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shuai Hua-ming (帥化民) reminded Chao and the ministry that the group of Chinese experts who are due to attend a seminar in Taipei on “60 years across the Taiwan Strait” are knowledgeable individuals.

“These people have helped complete reorganization of the Chinese Communist Party and they have been key players in the reforms of the Chinese Army,” Shuai said.

Chinese academics, including Zheng Bijian (鄭必堅), former vice president of the CCP’s Central Party School, will attend the two-day seminar starting today, which is being organized by the Taipei-based Pacific Cultural Foundation.

The Chinese experts on Taiwan affairs are expected to exchange views with their Taiwanese counterparts on issues related to cross-strait relations, including political and national security matters, but it was not clear exactly what political issues will be under discussion.

The seminar has been interpreted as “the beginning of a ‘track-two’ dialogue across the Taiwan Strait and a prelude to cross-strait political talks,” Shuai said.

Political issues have so far remained off the table in cross-strait discussions, the government says. Negotiators from both sides have reached nine agreements aimed at increasing cross-strait trade and economic exchanges since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May last year.

Chao yesterday said the MND is keeping a close eye on the seminar and its results.

He added, however, that the time is not yet ripe for a mutual trust mechanism between the military on both sides of the strait and that Taiwan’s current approach to the development of cross-strait relations is based on the principles of “economy ahead of politics” and “the easy ones before the difficult ones.”

Taiwan and China are expected to sign three memorandums of understanding (MOU) on financial supervision before the end of this year and likely an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) next year.

An open letter to Taiwan’s president

Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 8

Dear President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九),

During the past year, we, the undersigned — scholars and writers from the US, Canada, Asia, Europe and Australia — have publicly expressed to your government our concerns about a number of trends and developments in Taiwan. On Nov. 6, 2008, and again on Dec. 2 in letters to Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰), we focused on the issues of erosion of justice, significant flaws in the judicial system and judicial abuses against members of the democratic opposition.

On Jan. 21, 2009, and again on May 21, we addressed two open letters to you, Mr. President, expressing concern about the fairness of the judicial system, as well as erosion of press freedom and democratic checks and balances.

We regret to say that the responses received from Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) did not adequately address the issues raised, nor have we seen any substantive ameliorative steps taken to correct the problems.

Since then, a number of developments have taken place — some positive and some negative — which prompted us to write to you again to express our views on these issues. We wish to reiterate that we raise these points as strong international supporters of Taiwan’s democracy who care deeply about the country and its future as a free and democratic nation.

We also emphasize that we do not take sides in internal political debates, but do have Taiwan’s international image and credibility as an international partner in mind. Because of the hard work and perseverance of the Taiwanese people, Taiwan was able to make the transition to democracy two decades ago.

We applaud this achievement and strongly believe that this basic fact, democracy, is the strongest card Taiwan can play in building and strengthening its relations with other countries around the world and the strongest protection against outside interference in Taiwan’s internal affairs.

We are sure that you would agree with us that Taiwan’s young democracy can only grow and prosper if it is nurtured through good governance, accountability and transparency based on the fundamental principles of freedom, democracy, justice and human rights. This would also adhere to both the letter and spirit of the two UN human rights covenants signed by you and ratified by the Legislative Yuan, and be enhanced by the implementation of these covenants into national law in accordance with the advice of the International Commission of Jurists.

During the past two decades, Taiwan has made major progress in each of these areas. It thus has been a disappointment for us to see an erosion of justice, a weakening of checks and balances in the democratic system and a decline in press freedom in Taiwan.

These trends are reflected in the significantly downward ratings Taiwan received in the annual reports of international organizations such as Freedom House and Reporters without Borders.

They are also reflected in the expressions of concern by international scholars and friends of Taiwan related to the flaws in the judicial proceedings against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the apparent lack of neutrality in the continuing “investigations” and indictments of other prominent members of the former DPP government. We thus appeal to you again to ensure that measures are taken to ensure the impartiality and fairness of the judiciary.

Good governance, accountability and transparency based on the fundamental principles of freedom, democracy, justice and human rights are all the more essential now that your government is moving Taiwan on a path of closer economic ties with China. We believe that a decrease of tension across the Taiwan Strait would indeed be welcome, but emphasize that this should not be done at the expense of the hard-won democracy and human rights in Taiwan itself.

Thus, the process of improving relations with your large neighbor across the Taiwan Strait needs to be an open, deliberative and democratic process, in full consultation with both the Legislative Yuan and the democratic opposition, and fully transparent to the general public.

We are thus pleased to hear that officials of your government have stated that any agreement with China would need to have both a domestic consensus, including approval by the Legislative Yuan, and acceptance by the international community.

We trust this process will be open and consultative in ways that respect the democratic traditions begun so promisingly two decades ago. Indeed, we emphasize that a country can only grow and prosper if it has diversified ties — economically and politically — to other countries.

Too close an embrace with one neighbor will expose that country to the risks of volatility in the neighboring country, in particular if that neighbor remains authoritarian and openly disrespectful of Taiwan’s democratic achievements.

Mr. President, we wish to emphasize again that, as international scholars and writers who have followed, supported and applauded Taiwan’s impressive transition to democracy, we feel strongly that Taiwan should be more fully accepted by the international community as a full and equal partner.

This can only be achieved if Taiwan ensures that its democratic achievements are safeguarded, that its sovereignty, human rights and fundamental freedoms are protected, and that the democratic fabric of society is strengthened so the country is ready to meet the challenges ahead.

Respectfully yours,



NAT BELLOCCHI

Former chairman, American Institute in Taiwan

COEN BLAAUW

Formosan Association for Public Affairs, Washington

GORDON CHANG

Author, “The Coming ­Collapse of China”

EDWARD FRIEDMAN

Professor of political ­science and East Asian ­studies, ­University of Wisconsin

PETER CHOW

Professor of economics, City College of New York

STEPHANE CORCUFF

Associate professor of ­political science, China and Taiwan studies,

University of Lyon

MICHAEL DANIELSEN

Chairman, Taiwan Corner, Copenhagen


JUNE TEUFEL DREYER

Professor of political science, University of Miami

JOHN TKACIK

Former senior research fellow at The Heritage ­Foundation and former officer at the Taiwan Coordination Desk, Department of State, Washington

TERRI GILES

Executive director, Formosa Foundation, Los Angeles

MICHAEL RAND HOARE

Emeritus reader at the University of London

CHRISTOPHER HUGHES

Professor of international relations, London School of Economics and Political Science

THOMAS HUGHES

Former chief of staff to the late senator Claiborne Pell, Washington

BRUCE JACOBS

Professor of Asian languages and studies, Monash ­University

RICHARD KAGAN

Professor emeritus of ­history, Hamline University

JEROME KEATING

Associate professor, National Taipei University (retired). David Kilgour

Former member of ­parliament and secretary of state for Asia-Pacific

(2002-2003), Canada

ANDRE LALIBERTE

Associate professor, School of Political Studies,

University of Ottawa

DANIEL LYNCH

Associate professor, School of International Relations,

­University of Southern ­California

LIU SHIH-CHUNG

Visiting fellow, The ­Brookings Institution, Washington

VICTOR MAIR

Professor of Chinese ­language and literature, ­University of Pennsylvania

DONALD RODGERS

Associate professor of political science, Austin College

CHRISTIAN SCHAFFERER

Associate professor, ­Department of International Trade, Overseas Chinese Institute of Technology, chair of Austrian Association

of East Asian Studies

SCOTT SIMON

Associate professor, ­University of Ottawa, Canada

MICHAEL STAINTON

York Center for Asia Research, Toronto
PERRY LINK

Professor emeritus of

East Asian Studies,

Princeton University

PETER TAGUE

Professor of law,

Georgetown University

ARTHUR WALDRON

Lauder professor of ­international relations, ­University of Pennsylvania

VINCENT WEI-CHENG WANG

Professor of political ­science, University of Richmond

GERRIT VAN DER WEES

Editor of “Taiwan ­Communique,” Washington

STEPHEN YATES

President of DC Asia ­Advisory and former deputy assistant to the US vice ­president for national

security affairs.

Clean air is key in talks between Hu and Obama
　

By Zhiqun Zhu 朱志群
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 8

When US President Barack Obama makes his first visit to China next week, human rights is likely to be one of the major issues in his talks with Chinese leaders. While it will be a great opportunity for him to express his concerns for human rights in China, he should address it with a different strategy and focus than past US leaders. Instead of openly challenging the Chinese government on issues like political freedom and Tibet, which are bound to anger Chinese leaders and are not really helpful for improving human rights conditions in China, Obama should promote the idea of clean air as a human right.

One of the lingering disputes between China and the US concerns differences on the meaning of human rights. While the US and much of the Western world focus on political, religious and civil rights, China and many developing nations emphasize economic, social and cultural rights. Citing the tremendous progress in improved living standards in China, the Chinese government and many Chinese citizens reject Western accusations of China’s dismal human rights record. They ask: isn’t lifting 400 million people out of poverty one of the greatest human rights successes in history? Instead of continuing to argue the meaning and scope of human rights, the US and China should take a new approach and seek common ground for genuine cooperation to improve overall human rights in China.

With a narrow and misguided focus on the GDP growth rate, China’s rapid modernization in the past 30 years has resulted in a nightmarish environment. Air and water are severely polluted in much of the country. Some studies even suggest that the top 10 most polluted cities in the world are all in China. Respiratory diseases have become the No. 1 cause of death in China.

All previous US administrations criticized the Chinese government for its human rights violations, but all of them selectively focused on political and religious freedom in China. Many in China understand the importance of democracy and political freedom, but realize that these lofty goals must be obtained gradually. They feel that the US government turns a blind eye to what China has achieved in the past three decades and fails to appreciate the daunting domestic challenges China faces today. Even critics of the Chinese government may not agree with the US government when it openly confronts China with the human rights issue. What the US has advocated seems so distant and detached from the lives of ordinary Chinese. If Obama continues to talk about human rights only through the lens of political and religious freedom during his visit, he is likely to alienate much of the Chinese public. Instead, he should raise China’s environmental degradation as a human rights issue and offer the US’ strong support for a better environment in China. Clean air is a basic human right that all Chinese care about, but do not have.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) announced his government’s commitment to cutting greenhouse gases during the UN Climate Summit in September. Both China and the US hope that the Copenhagen Climate Conference next month will bring about an agreed framework for climate change. As the world’s two biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, the US and China should take the lead in specifying their goals and measures to address climate change.

The Obama-Hu meeting in Beijing will be a litmus test of how serious they are in curbing greenhouse gases. To a large extent, a successful Obama visit to China depends on whether the two countries will agree to cooperate on clean air in China and elsewhere.

Zhiqun Zhu is an associate professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He is also the University’s John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur chair in East Asian politics.

Empire of the rising sun
　

‘Pattenrai’ tells the story of the Japanese engineer whose projects turned an arid wilderness into one of Taiwan’s most important agricultural regions

By Ian Bartholomew
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, Page 16
　

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There is nothing intrinsically reprehensible about getting nostalgic for lost empire, but in these days of post-colonialism, the robust imperialistic sentiments expressed by Pattenrai, a Japanese animation about the building of the Chianan Canal (嘉南大圳) and Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫) by the Japanese occupation government in the 1920s, seem a little out of sync with the times.

The film has had considerable pre-release publicity, with a screening last week in Tainan attended by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and another earlier this week in Taipei for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and other political figures. This is part of an effort to have the reservoir and canal recognized as a World Heritage Site, but also serves to highlight the somewhat ambiguous relationship that Taiwan has toward Japan.

Fortunately, Pattenrai need not be viewed exclusively through the prism of nationalist ideology or post-colonial political correctness, and as an inspirational story of a visionary engineer who put the interests of people in general before those of nations, it is certainly affecting and informative.

The hero of the tale is the Japanese engineer Yoichi Hatta, who while stationed in Taiwan conceived the hugely ambitious plan to irrigate the Chianan Plain (嘉南平原), turning it from an arid wilderness into one of the island’s most important agricultural regions. The story is told from the point of view of two children, Chin-yi (進一), the son of a Japanese administrator, and Tianwen

(添文), the son of a local farmer. Tianwen’s father violently opposes the reservoir project and sees his son’s participation in it as useless tampering with the natural order, despite the backbreaking daily work of transporting irrigation water by bullock cart.

Tianwen, initially hostile to Hatta, becomes intrigued by the possibilities of engineering and decides to follow Hatta to become an engineer. Hatta is shown as a man who, in his commitment to his profession, is indifferent to race, fighting shortsighted Japanese bean counters as well as stick-in-the-mud Taiwanese peasants to achieve his goal.

Pattenrai can be seen as a paean to the greatness of science, which in the hands of a man like Hatta transcends the boundaries of nations and works for the benefit of all mankind. This sermon to science is balanced with a bit of emotional drama. There is an explosion that kills both Taiwanese and Japanese personnel, including Chin-yi’s father, and almost derails the project. Pattenrai has no doubts that while the price of success is high, the benefits are undisputed.

As a film to teach children about the power of science and dedicated application to study, Pattenrai is perfectly adequate, nicely mixing its preaching with a story of childhood friendship and of youngsters trying to break out from under the shadow their parents. While simple, the story is tightly structured, and shows the assured hand of director Noboru Ishiguro, who is best known for his work in fantasy anime.

Hatta remained in Taiwan for 28 years developing water conservancy infrastructure, including 10 years working on the Wushantou Reservoir. His contribution and dedication to his profession are undisputed, and that his memory should be celebrated is certainly commendable. That it should be in a Japanese production, however, rather than a Taiwanese one, leaves a slightly odd taste in the mouth.

The subsequent history is touched on in text notes at the end of the film, which briefly outline Hatta’s death in the Philippines during World War II and his wife’s suicide soon after the Japanese surrender — she drowned herself in the reservoir her husband built rather than face repatriation to Japan. But these tragedies are secondary to the debt that Taiwan owes to the vision of a man who saw the island as a stage on which his engineering genius could be expressed.