Legislative Yuan finalizes amount for reconstruction
　

By Flora Wang and Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTERS
Friday, Aug 28, 2009, Page 1
　

The Legislative Yuan yesterday finalized the amount of funding for post-Morakot reconstruction at NT$120 billion (US$3.6 billion) and empowered the government to “forcibly relocate residents of disaster-prone areas after first seeking their consensus.”

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-dominated legislature voted 74 to 24 in favor of the KMT's motion to cap the Executive Yuan's special budget request at NT$120 billion, up from NT$100 billion as originally proposed by the Executive Yuan in the Post-Typhoon Morakot Reconstruction Special Act (莫拉克颱風災後重建特別條例).

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had proposed setting the minimum at NT$200 billion, but the vote played out along party lines and was soundly defeated.

The legislature also agreed to allow the central government to take out loans to raise the funds, but maintained that the central government should review its expenditure for the current fiscal year and use funds earmarked for “less urgent projects” on reconstruction work.

The legislature also approved a KMT motion to allow the central government and local governments to “forcibly relocate” residents living in “dangerous places” or “over-exploited areas” after consulting the residents but not reaching a consensus.

The motion stated that the government should respect the culture and lifestyle of residents of the areas during reconstruction.

Legislators passed the motion while a number of civil groups in the visitors' seats inside the legislative building chanted: “We are against pushing through the act hastily and forcibly relocating Aboriginal communities.”

Earlier on during the plenary session, DPP Legislator Chen Ying (陳瑩), a member of the Puyuma Tribe, knelt in front of legislators to show her opposition to authorizing the government to forcibly relocate Aboriginal communities in the disaster areas without their agreement.

Chen said numerous Aboriginal communities had broken apart after being relocated during the Japanese colonial era and former KMT administrations, adding that forcibly relocating them meant the extermination of Aboriginal communities.

But KMT Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉), an Atayal, said the KMT was also against forcibly relocating Aboriginal communities, adding that the KMT's motion would ensure that the government listened to residents and reached a consensus with them before deciding upon relocation.

The legislature also rejected a motion by the DPP that would require that the Cabinet spend NT$50 billion establishing a reconstruction fund for businesses in the disaster areas.

Meanwhile, more than 20 civic groups and Morakot survivors yesterday staged a demonstration for the third consecutive day outside the Legislative Yuan to protest the reconstruction bill.

Protestors sang the traditional Bunun song Kukumahal or “Go Home” as they walked toward the front gate of the Legislative Yuan.

“We're not against resettling victims in safe areas if the original sites of their communities are no longer suitable for habitiation, but we demand that the bill be more carefully reviewed and that public hearings be held to hear the voices of the victims,” long-time Aboriginal rights activist Omi Wilang said through a loudspeaker.

“A lot of evacuated survivors still don't know about the bill and what will happen to them as government officials and lawmakers are making the decisions for them,” he said.

The protesters were mainly upset over clauses in the bill that would grant the government the right to declare an area “dangerous” and force the residents to move.

Omi said arranging temporary resettlement for survivors was the priority.

“The transitional settlement period should last up to five or six years so that we can accurately determine whether it's possible for the victims to return to their home villages,” he said.

One survivor from the Rukai village of Sinhaocha (新好茶) (or Puhakele) in Pingtung County said he had no confidence in the plan to move villages.

“Thirty years ago, Rukai tribesmen followed government policy and left their homes in Kopachangan [舊好茶],” he said. “But look at what happened. Pulhakele is often flooded and was almost completely destroyed this time, while Kopachangan stands unaffected.”

Lee Li-ming (李黎明) of Nansalu Village (南沙魯), formerly known as Minzu Village (民族), in Kaohsiung County's Namasiya Township (那瑪夏), said Bunun culture is deeply connected to the land, and that cutting people off from their lands could destroy their culture.

“What you [the government] think is right is not always right in our eyes,” Lee said.

In related news, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday the government will coordinate non-government organizations and businesses in post-Morakot reconstruction to ensure work is implemented thoroughly.

“The [government's] response to disaster relief must be quick, but reconstruction work should be done in a delicate way that fully respects the opinions of victims,” Liu said.

Dalai Lama receives visa from Taiwan
　

ARRIVING ON SUNDAY: The Tibetan spiritual leader is expected to visit the disaster areas, hold a religious service and deliver speeches during his visit through Friday
　

By Ko Shu-ling and Jenny W. Hsu
STAFF REPORTERS
Friday, Aug 28, 2009, Page 1
　

The Presidential Office yesterday approved a visit by the Dalai Lama to Taiwan, stressing that his trip would be purely religious and would not affect cross-strait ties.

A staffer from Taiwan's representative office in India, where the Tibetan spiritual leader resides, said that the Dalai Lama had already received a visa and would arrive in Taiwan on a China Airlines flight on Sunday and leave next Friday.

The secretary-general of the Dalai Lama's office will arrive in Taiwan today to make arrangements for the trip.

China has denounced the visit.

“No matter under what form or identity the Dalai Lama uses to enter Taiwan, we resolutely oppose this,” Xinhua news agency quoted the Taiwan Affairs Office as saying.

The invitation was extended by the chiefs of seven local governments in southern Taiwan in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, who hope the Dalai Lama's visit would console victims in the hard-hit areas.

The Tibetan government-in-exile confirmed on Wednesday that the Dalai Lama had accepted the invitation.

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) told a press conference yesterday morning that the government's decision to authorize the visit was based on religious and humanitarian considerations.

Wang said the position of President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) administration on the matter was clear — that it welcomes visits by world religious leaders to engage in religious activities.

“We welcome the Dalai Lama to come to Taiwan to perform religious rituals for the typhoon victims,” Wang said.

“We think this will not damage relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” he said.

Ma rejected a proposed trip by the Dalai Lama last December. Ma said then that the timing was “inappropriate” for a visit.

During an inspection of Nantou County's Sinyi Township (信義) yesterday morning, Ma confirmed that the government had approved the visit.

While the Presidential Office did not make the final decision until 11pm on Wednesday, Wang said officials spent hours to “understand” and “evaluate” the situation, adding that the decision had nothing to do with Beijing.

As to whether Ma would meet the Nobel Peace laureate, Wang said it was a “hypothetical” question and the Presidential Office would not deal with it until the Dalai Lama made an official request.

As to what status the government would grant the Dalai Lama, Wang said it was a “technical” question that the administration would not worry about now, adding that there were precedents to follow.

When the Dalai Lama first visited Taiwan in 1997, the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government considered him “an overseas Republic of China national without a household registration” and granted him an “entry permit issued by the Bureau of Immigration.

For the Dalai Lama's second visit in 2001, he was recognized by the then-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government as a “foreign national” and was allowed to use his Identity Certificate — a travel document that the Indian government issues to Tibetans living in exile in the country — to obtain a visa to enter Taiwan.

The Dalai Lama has written to Ma in the aftermath of Morakot to express concern over the disaster.

Wang yesterday first said he did not think the president had written back but later said Ma had replied on Monday in his capacity as president.

Wang did not answer whether the Ma administration would allow the Dalai Lama to visit the north or participate in non-religious activities, only reiterating that the government welcomed him to engage in religious activities.

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday highlighted the humanitarian and religious nature of the Dalai Lama's visit, but added: “I hope he will not participate in any political activities during his stay in Taiwan.”

“His visit will be very comforting [to the victims] ... I think we should prioritize humanitarian concerns over politics,” Wang said.

KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said the timing was right for the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan, but called on the DPP to refrain from manipulating his visit for political gains.

“I have to remind the DPP that although it is good to invite the Dalai Lama to bless the victims, the DPP should not try to take advantage of his visit and trumpet Tibetan independence, Taiwanese independence and [the DPP's] political ideology or incite cross-strait conflict,” Wu said.

DPP acting spokesman Chao Tian-lin (趙天麟) said yesterday the Dalai Lama would visit to offer comfort and invoke blessings for the victims of Morakot and had no political purpose. Chao urged both governing and opposition parties to refrain from using the visit for political mudslinging.

The monk's visit is also a prime opportunity for Ma to “change his attitude” and could even benefit Ma in the long run, Chao said.

Noting that the Dalai Lama has visited Taiwan twice before, Chao said this was proof that his presence in the country had no adverse effect on cross-strait developments.

“We are pleased to see that the government has agreed to the Dalai Lama's visit. The DPP has no intention of using the visit to cause problems for anyone. The only purpose of the trip was to respect the wishes of many victims who have expressed their hopes to the local governments to receive the blessings of the Dalai Lama,” Chao said.

The Dalai Lama's visit could offer comfort the victims as well as attract the world's attention to the aftermath of the typhoon and perhaps elicit more aid from the international community, Chao said, stressing that the DPP had no ulterior motives except to give the typhoon victims spiritual nourishment.

DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said he hoped other religious groups would follow suit by holding prayer services or activities to help the victims.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), one of the seven local government chiefs who invited the Dalai Lama to visit, said the city government would begin to discuss the details of his trip with his office staff.

Dawa Tsering, the representative of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Taiwan, said the Dalai Lama had filed his visa application for Taiwan yesterday using his Identity Certificate.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would do all it can to ensure that the Dalai Lama has a smooth trip to Taiwan.

Dawa said the Tibetan spiritual leader will visit the disaster areas in southern Taiwan, hold a religious service in Kaohsiung and deliver speeches in Kaohsiung and Taipei, Dawa said.

Meanwhile, Chen Xiancai, deputy director of Xiamen University's Taiwan research center, said Ma's decision to allow a visit by the Dalai Lama was “unwise” and could damage ties with China.

“The Dalai Lama is not a purely religious figure. He is a political figure who is involved in splitting the motherland,” he told the by telephone. “Ma Ying-jeou has a political intention in his decision to approve this visit.”

“Ma Ying-jeou is facing a political crisis after the typhoon and the Democratic Progressive Party is posing a tough question to Ma,” he said. “Ma's decision is unwise and is lacking in political wisdom.”

“We still have to see how things develop, how Ma explains it to China, what kind of steps he will take and whether the Dalai Lama will go to Taiwan in the end,” he said.

Ma too eager to sign ECFA, former top negotiator says
　

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Aug 28, 2009, Page 3

“The administration must realize that negotiating is always a means and not the objective. Unfortunately, it considers negotiation as the goal.”— Chang Jung-feng, former National Security Council deputy secretary-general

Impatience has put President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration in an unfavorable position when it comes to negotiating an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing, a former top negotiator said yesterday.

Chang Jung-feng (張榮豐), who served as National Security Council deputy secretary-general during Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) presidency, said that it was important to strengthen the “best alternative to a negotiated agreement” before negotiating with Beijing.

Taking the example of both sides’ bids to join the WTO, Chang said Taipei had Washington’s backing that if Beijing obstructed Taiwan’s bid, Washington would strike down Beijing’s attempt to join the organization.

To be impatient only puts Taiwan in an adverse position when negotiating with Beijing, Chang said, adding that it was “stupid” for the administration to show its eagerness to sign the proposed pact by revealing its deadline.

“The administration must realize that negotiating is always a means and not the objective,” he said. “Unfortunately, it considers negotiation as the goal. It seems it does not care about the content of the agreement, as long as there is one.”

The Ma administration has expressed the hope that it can sign the planned pact by next year.

Likening signing of an ECFA to buying a house, Chang said the buyer would put himself in a bad position if he or she sent out invitations to a house warming party before the house had been purchased because the buyer would then have to pay whatever price has been offered to obtain the property.

Chang said the administration should also have taken advantage of legislative supervision.

Emphasizing the importance of procedural negotiations leading to actual talks, Chang said the negotiations were the decisive battle because that was when the agenda was set, compromises were made and bottom lines were revealed.

Before both sides began negotiating, Chang said the administration must have thorough information and analysis of Beijing’s negotiation team, strategy and options.

Both the administration and Beijing have expressed the hope that they can sign a peace agreement, but Chang said since both sides were no longer in military conflict, the peace agreement Beijing wanted was political in nature and it could easily be used to persuade Washington to stop selling weapons to Taiwan.

Diana Chen insists she is innocent in Taipei perjury trial
　

By Shelley Huang
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Aug 28, 2009, Page 3
　

Former Taipei Financial Center Corp (台北金融大樓公司) chairwoman Diana Chen (陳敏薰) said during her perjury trial yesterday at the Taipei District Court that she had only expressed an interest in the position of chairperson at Grand Cathay Securities Corp (大華證券), but did not ask former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) or his wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) for help in attaining the position.

On June 3, she was listed as a perjury defendant along with Chen Shui-bian’s daughter Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), his son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) and his son-in-law Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘).

Prosecutors allege she purposely gave false testimony during questioning last year about the former first family’s alleged money-laundering activities. They also allege Diana Chen bribed the former first lady with NT$10 million (US$300,000) to obtain her position as chairwoman of Taipei Financial Center Corp.

Appearing as a witness, Chen Mu-tsai (陳木在), former chairman of China Development Financial Holding Co (中華開發金控), testified that he had three meetings with Diana Chen, who expressed an interest in taking the position of chairperson at Grand Cathay Securities Corp.

At that time, Diana Chen told him because Taipei Financial Center was not her area of expertise, she would prefer the position at China Development, Chen Mu-tsai said.

Presiding Judge Chen Hsing-pang (陳興邦) asked Diana Chen why she asked the former president to telephone former finance minister Lin Chuan (林全) if she did not want the position at Taipei Financial Center, to which Diana Chen replied: “I never asked the former president for help [with such matters].”

She told the court she had talked to Wu about applying for the position at Grand Cathay Securities Corp, but she had never asked Wu or the former president to interfere in the company’s personnel decisions.

Diana Chen turned down the presiding judge’s suggestion that she admit to the charges against her to receive a lighter sentence, instead insisting that she was innocent.

Dalai Lama visit puts Ma in quandary

Friday, Aug 28, 2009, Page 8

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has given the Dalai Lama permission to visit Taiwan to comfort the victims of Typhoon Morakot.

The government’s decision to allow the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader to visit came after Ma rejected a similar request last December, a move that at the time was widely interpreted as a nod in the direction of Beijing and part of Ma’s strategy to improve cross-strait relations. Ma could afford to do so at the time because he enjoyed strong support in opinion polls.

But things have changed drastically and Ma’s popularity is now at its lowest ebb. With the economy at rock bottom, his administration’s botched handling of Morakot, the bad press he received after several detached encounters with survivors and growing criticism of how he is dealing with a possible swine flu epidemic, the Ma camp has had to reassess its options.

Rejecting the visit of such a respected religious leader in the face of human suffering would have made the government appear even more heartless and could have dealt a fatal blow to Ma’s 2012 re-election hopes.

However, allowing the Dalai Lama into Taiwan sets back Ma’s pro-China agenda, which will be a problem for him at a time when Chinese officials appear increasingly impatient with what they view as his middle-of-the-road opportunism.

The Dalai Lama decision will make him unpopular in China, but Ma and his advisers have come to realize that how he is perceived by people in Taiwan is much more important than what Beijing thinks.

When he was elected by a landslide last year Ma was obviously confident he could win a second term, and he has made numerous predictions about his economic and cross-strait plans post-2012. But for the first time in his political career, Ma is having to come to terms with the fact that he is electorally vulnerable and that if he continues in this manner he stands a very good chance of losing.

Damage control must take precedent over policy.

The Democratic Progressive Party chiefs who invited the Dalai Lama no doubt did so with good intentions, but in the back of their minds they must have been excited about the dilemma this would create for Ma. The outmaneuvered Presidential Office must be quietly fuming.

The next test for Ma will be whether he meets the Dalai Lama, but that will be a bridge too far. Ma may have had his hands effectively tied behind his back when deciding to allow a visit, but a meeting between the two would be an almighty slap in the face for Beijing.

This will be hard for Ma, because not meeting the Dalai Lama will further harm his image in this post-Morakot era. The problem is that having tied up all his political capital in improving ties with Beijing, Ma will at some point have to tow its line in order to ensure the continued flow of “goodwill.”

The folly of Ma’s China policy has once again become glaringly apparent.

The UN is useless
　

Friday, Aug 28, 2009, Page 8

“We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war … and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth … of nations large and small … to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom ... and for these ends ... to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors … and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.”

This is an excerpt from the preamble of the UN Charter.

Following Typhoon Morakot, civilian and government aid, both local and foreign, poured in. The love and care from strangers in different parts of the world were underreported by local media and perhaps by the world. Almost all attention focused on politicians and their half-baked rescue operations, and unsurprisingly so.

The “Taiwan issue” has always centered on politics, never humanitarian issues nor the welfare of its inhabitants. It was reported that Taiwan will not be seeking UN membership in the upcoming UN General Assembly because of a shift in politics.

On the other hand, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has not yet extended any offer to aid the internally displaced persons in the southern parts of the island. [Editor’s note: the UNHCR does not deal with internally displaced persons.]

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), however, has offered to send a team of experts to offer views on reconstruction.

Ironically, neither the UNHCR nor the OCHA Web sites has an article on Morakot relief.

For an organization whose very purpose is to encourage world peace and humanitarian efforts, this is profoundly disgraceful and disturbing. This should allow the world to see how ineffective the UN has become and how irresponsible it is for us to continue to show support for and respect such a hypocritical construct.

In Chapter I, Article 1 of the UN Charter, it states the purposes of the UN are “to maintain international peace and security … the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace,” and “to achieve … in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.”

Article 2 says the members shall “refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or [behave] in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.”

Regardless of the rest of the world’s view on the sovereignty of Taiwan, mankind should at least acknowledge that ethnicity is independent of nationality. Humanity far surpasses the political intrigue generated by men. Thus the very idea that the UN rejects the notion of Taiwan’s sovereignty and the tardiness in disaster relief after Morakot has sent a crystal-clear message.

WU JEN-CHIEH
Hsinchu

Ethnicity crucial to response to Morakot
　

By Paul Lin 林保華
Friday, Aug 28, 2009, Page 8

“High class Mainlander” Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英) has once again given us an earful of his preposterous opinions, this time in connection to the disaster relief effort in southern Taiwan. This man is not worth the effort and the ink, but a discussion about the effects on the disaster relief of the ethnic identification issue that he plays on is.

At a presidential press conference on Aug. 18, Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) said he was Taiwanese and then washed his hands of responsibility for the weak disaster response. This awkward statement is a reflection of his views on ethnicity. Humanitarianism is a universal value, so what does ethnicity have to do with it? Small wonder that he is insensitive to the disaster.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) is another controversial individual. The wave of criticism for the rejection of foreign aid, which was revealed while Ou was overseas, had to be weathered by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Hsia (夏立言). After returning home, however, Ou said the rejection was approved by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂), a position subordinate to the deputy minister. What did he hope to achieve by saying that? If it is correct, then why did President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) ignore it?

It is well known that Chen was picked for his post from other retired senior military officers after Ma and Liu had organized their Cabinet, with the result that the president, premier and secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC) — the three positions with the power to determine the future of Taiwan — are all Mainlanders.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was given to Ou for the same reason. Chen and Ou both know they got their jobs because of their ethnic background, not because of their abilities. In the Morakot disaster, it was these “Taiwanese bottleneck” ministries that experienced problems.

Just as Chen and Ou sold themselves to Ma, Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Aboriginal Legislator May Chin (高金素梅) has been waiting for an opportunity “to do some good.” She knows there are not many politicians that can represent Taiwan’s Aborigines.

Selling this valuable asset directly to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), she stands to gain even more, in particular at a time when the CCP wants to manifest its sovereignty over Taiwan.

This is why — even as Ma and the NSC were concerned about China’s sovereignty claims, partly because of the US’ disaster aid, partly because of the fuss over the government’s rejection of foreign aid — Chin returned to Taiwan from Japan to organize an 87-strong delegation to go to China to provide Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) with a platform for manifesting Beijing’s sovereignty over Taiwan. That was the reason China donated 20 million yuan (US$2.9 million) to the disaster relief effort.

The unprecedented rainfall brought by Morakot caused heavy losses in human life and property in southern Taiwan, wiping out whole families. The government is treating the disaster from a northern Taiwanese perspective, and won’t correct its weak relief effort because it is directing all its energies toward China and the CCP.

The only difference between Ma and his team on the one hand and Kuo on the other is that the latter isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Don’t forget that he is a friend of the first family, and that they’re on the same wavelength. Let’s see if they show the same disregard for the lives of Taiwan’s ethnic groups when it comes to the swine flu.

Paul Lin is a political commentator.