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Haitiˇ¦s
tragedy and Taiwan
Saturday, Jan 16, 2010, Page 8
The worldˇ¦s most severe earthquakes of recent memory are notable for taking
place in states that are politically stable ˇX or at least those that have a
working infrastructure. The Sichuan Earthquake in China, the Kashmir disaster of
2005, the Bam quake in Iran in late 2003 ˇX all took place in regions that were
remote and/or poverty-stricken, but there was at least some hope of response by
central officials. International assistance, where it was welcomed, had to be
moderated to some extent by sovereign considerations.
In Haiti, a state that has been struggling to get on its feet after decades of
authoritarian rule, gang warfare and economic ruin, and which remains the
poorest country in the Western hemisphere, coping with the outcome of frequent
hurricanes has been challenge enough. The shallow 7.0 magnitude earthquake that
struck Port-au-Prince on Tuesday is remarkable, however, in that the already
compromised capacity of central government services has been rendered utterly
impotent.
The result of this disaster is an international relief and rescue effort that
may come to rival the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami of late 2004 in
geopolitical terms.
The US has led the way, as it should, in pledging and delivering relief to
Haitians. It has also been encouraging to note the quick response of other
countries in the region, including Venezuela, which for once is not in the news
for scuttling its own infrastructure in the service of presidential folly.
Haiti is a Taiwanese ally, one of only a few. It is paramount that the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs develop a long-term relief strategy that coordinates with
other major donor nations. It is important to do so not because of the
possibility that a Chinese injection of aid and assistance might lead to the
severing of ties between Haiti and Taiwan, but because after years of cash
flowing to Haiti from Taipei, the improvements in local conditions and bilateral
benefits have been marginal at best.
Honor and strategy both dictate that Taiwan help protect Haitians from the
natural elements and from the terror of lawlessness. There is much more that
Taipei can do to fulfill this responsibility.
The US will be the main protector of Haiti as it enters a new period of despair,
fear and (probably) violence, but Taiwan must make its presence felt. The
ruination of Haiti and the attendant social breakdown would mark a regional
crisis that could ensnare several neighboring nations in a morass of
unmanageable refugee migrations. Taiwan has the money, the manpower and a
certain level of expertise to help the US stop this from happening.
Taiwanˇ¦s government can complain all it likes about a lack of recognition in the
international community, but unless it is prepared to display leadership,
generosity and intelligence in its dealings with blighted ally nations, then it
will have traveled only the shortest distance from a time when its allies
included some of the most malevolent governments in modern history.
The unspeakable disaster in Haiti provides this administration with a real
chance to prove itself worthy of the name ˇ§nationˇ¨ ˇX and to follow up pretty
language with a comprehensive, well-financed, long-term commitment to the future
of all Haitians.
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