China to boycott Deaflympics ceremony
　

NO SHOW: While the Chinese team will be arriving too late to attend the event, a dance troupe is expected to perform the 'Thousand-hand Guanyin' as scheduled
　

By Ko Shu-ling and Jenny W. hsu
STAFF REPORTERS
Tuesday, Sep 01, 2009, Page 1
　

China will not attend the opening ceremony of the Summer Deaflympics in Taipei, the organizer said yesterday, hinting that it had something to do with the visit of the Dalai Lama.

Emile Sheng (盛治仁), chief executive of the Taipei Deaflympics Organizing Committee, said that as the Chinese team would not arrive until 9:40pm on Saturday, they would not be able to attend the opening ceremony, which is scheduled for 7:30pm.

The Deaflympics will be held from Saturday through Sept. 15. This will be the first time the event is held in Asia.

Asked whether Beijing’s decision had anything to do with the Dalai Lama’s visit, Sheng said he was not sure, but that he had “admiration for Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu [陳菊]” because Chen went to China to promote the World Games in Kaohsiung before the event was held in July.

“Now Chen even remembered to invite the Dalai Lama over before the Deaflympics begin,” he said.

Sheng said he was notified of the flight schedule of the 100-member Chinese team three days ago. Although the Chinese team will not attend the opening ceremony, China will nevertheless send a dance troupe of hearing-impaired individuals to perform the Thousand-hand Guanyin (千手觀音).

Despite the devastation caused by Typhoon Morakot and growing threat of swine flu, Sheng said everything would proceed as planned in the spirit of the Deaflympics.

AND THE CLOSING?

On whether the Chinese team would attend the closing ceremony, Sheng said he did not know, but he was certain there would still be some members in Taiwan when it takes place, as the team is scheduled to leave the country on Sept. 15 and Sept. 16.

As for the name the country’s team will use, Sheng said it would be “Chinese Taipei,” the name the nation has used since 1991 when it was admitted into the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf.

The country will also use the flag of the Chinese Taipei Sports Association of the Deaf at the Games.

On the teams’ order of appearance during the opening ceremony, Sheng said that France would lead the procession, in keeping with International Committee of Sports for the Deaf protocol.

France was the first country to sponsor the Deaflympics.

As the host, the Taiwanese team will appear last, Sheng said.

‘PLOT’

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday urged Chen to stop her “political calculations,” saying her plot was “evident” to some. Wu also called on the Democratic Progressive Party to stop creating problems for cross-strait relations.

Blaming the Dalai Lama for the Chinese team’s absence at the opening ceremony is ridiculous and the tactic of some politically biased media, the DPP said yesterday, rebutting the KMT’s reasoning for the boycott.

That Taipei City failed to reach an agreement with Beijing, which resulted in the boycott, is completely unrelated to the Dalai Lama’s visit, DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.

Cheng said that during the World Games, the Chinese team also boycotted the opening and closing ceremonies.

The Chinese team’s boycott at the Deaflympics ceremony is a result of Taipei City’s inability to get Beijing to say yes, Cheng said.

The Deaflympics is one of four games regulated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Its events are similar to those of the Olympic Games and are governed by the same rules.

The 21st Summer Deaflympics in Taipei are expected to bring together about 4,000 athletes and sports officials from 101 countries.

The Games will feature 20 sports, namely athletics, badminton, basketball, bowling, cycling, football, handball, orienteering, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, water polo, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, karate, judo and taekwondo.

Dalai Lama tours areas hit hard by Typhoon Morakot
　

By Loa Iok-sin and Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTERS
Tuesday, Sep 01, 2009, Page 1
　

The Dalai Lama visited Siaolin Village (小林) in Jiasian Township (甲仙), Kaohsiung County, yesterday on the first full day of his five-day trip, where he hugged survivors of Typhoon Morakot and prayed for its victims.

“Mom, Dad, the Dalai Lama has come to pray for you, please come up quickly,” Chen Lan-yin (陳蘭因), a Siaolin survivor, said while the Dalai Lama held a ritual to bring peace to the departed at the site where the village once stood.

More than 400 people were buried alive when massive landslides triggered by torrential rain brought by Morakot flattened the village on Aug. 9.

“As a Buddhist, what I can do is pray for them [the storm victims], wishing them that in their next life, they can still be human and live a happier life,” the Dalai Lama said after finishing the ritual.

He told survivors not to lose confidence and to continue living.

One Siaolin villager — who lost six family members in the disaster — kneeled in front of the Dalai Lama with his two friends and asked for a blessing. The Tibetan spiritual leader hugged them.

“Although we don’t understand what the Dalai Lama was saying, we do feel better now in our mind,” another villager said.

Before leaving Siaolin, the Dalai Lama took questions from reporters.

Asked about Beijing’s reaction to the visit, he said that the purpose of his trip was purely religious and that it should not be a problem.

Asked if he would meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), the Dalai Lama said that no political agenda was planned on his side, including meeting Ma, as he didn’t want to “create inconveniences [for] anybody.”

Asked to comment on protests against his visit, the Dalai Lama said it was a good thing.

“I am dedicated to promotion of democracy — that’s their freedom of expression,” he said. “I love it.”

After visiting Siaolin, the Dalai Lama went to Jiadong Township (佳冬) in Pingtung County — which was flooded by Morakot — to visit victims at a local temple.

More than half a month after the floodwater receded, streets in ­Jiadong are still filled with putrid mud.

Although the Dalai Lama said that his visit is purely religious and non-political, Taiwanese Friends of Tibet chairwoman Chow Mei-li (周美里) said in a press conference yesterday that the government was bowing to pressure from Beijing, adding that, in her opinion, this was the real reason behind last-minute changes to the Dalai Lama’s itinerary.

The Dalai Lama had been scheduled to hold a press conference yesterday morning, to deliver a public speech at the Kaohsiung Arena this afternoon and another public speech at the Taoyuan County Stadium tomorrow.

The press conference and the Taoyuan speech have been canceled, while the venue for the lecture in Kaohsiung was moved from the Kaohsiung Arena — which holds up to 15,000 people — to a smaller venue at his hotel that has a capacity of 700 people.

Chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama — the representative office of the exiled government — Dawa Tsering said the press conference was canceled because Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) strongly suggested that the Dalai Lama spend more time visiting disaster areas.

The cancelation of the public event in Taoyuan, he said, was the result of problems in booking the venue. Dawa said the speech in Kaohsiung was moved to a smaller venue to cut down on the number of police officers needed to ensure security.

Chow, however, maintained that the changes were the consequence of pressure from China.

“The first step was to cancel the press conference, so that Taiwanese cannot hear the true voice of the Dalai Lama,” Chow said. “Then it was the public event in Taoyuan — also for the same purpose.”

“China is afraid that once Taiwanese hear what the Dalai Lama has to say it would undermine its propaganda campaign,” Chow said. “And since Taiwan and China are all Chinese-speaking countries and information in Taiwan can easily reach the Chinese public, Beijing is afraid that the people will realize that Chinese officials are lying about the Dalai Lama.”

Chow also criticized Ma for acting like Beijing’s protege and always following whatever China says.

“The changes were made after an envoy from the governing Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] made a visit to Beijing,” she said. “It’s such a shame for Taiwan.”

KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) confirmed on Saturday that a KMT representative had been sent to China to discuss the Dalai Lama’s visit, but maintained that the trip was to facilitate cross-strait communications.

In related news, in response to a controversy over whether Taiwan or the exiled government took the initiative in organizing the visit, the Kaohsiung City Government said in a press conference that “while the Dalai Lama has expressed his interest in visiting Taiwan several times in the past few years,” it was Kaohisung Mayor Chen Chu who took the initiative to coordinate with local government heads to jointly send an invitation.

DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) criticized the government for restricting the Dalai Lama’s scope to address the public.

“In almost every country he goes, the Dalai Lama is recognized as a highly respected world leader. The [Ma] government is turning Taiwan into an international laughing stock by trying to minimize his significance and importance,” he said.

The DPP also said the invitation was extended by the seven local government chiefs in southern Taiwan and not initiated by the party, as some media have reported.

DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said Ma should meet the spiritual leader to “gain wisdom on how to lead a country,” while DPP lawmaker Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) urged Beijing and the pan-blue camp not to politicize the visit and to treat it as a humanitarian endeavor.

Meanwhile, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said the administration would redouble its efforts to communicate with Beijing after China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) said the Dalai Lama’s visit was bound to have a negative impact on cross-strait relations.

MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said the visit of the Nobel Peace laureate was religious in nature and that the administration did not have any political reasons to allow him to hold prayers for the victims of Morakot.

Liu was evasive on whether the visit would have any negative impact on the forthcoming high-level cross-strait talks or an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) the administration intends to sign with Beijing.

Liu said the administration never changed its aggressive attitude to improving cross-strait relations.

“The government will do its best to protect and increase mutual trust and the achievements that have been made over the past year,” he said. “We hope [the visit] will not affect the stable development of cross-strait ties.”

KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) expressed concerns that the Dalai Lama’s visit might affect the government’s plan to sign an ECFA.

Li Yafei (李亞飛), assistant minister of the TAO, said yesterday that Beijing’s position on the Dalai Lama’s visit to Taiwan was resolute and that the trip was bound to have an adverse effect on cross-strait ties.

Li did not elaborate, adding that Beijing would continue to monitor developments in the visit.

A delegation from the People’s Bank of China postponed its trip to Taiwan for a week, while a financial symposium on cross-strait economics with the Chinese Monetary Society scheduled for today in Taipei was rescheduled to next Monday.

Describing the Dalai Lama’s visit as a “political calculation” of the DPP, KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) urged the Dalai Lama to refrain from falling into a “political whirlpool.”

Wu said he was in favor of the visit, but that many indicators showed that the hard-earned peaceful and stable relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait had changed.

He called on the DPP to refrain from “provoking” Beijing as China had made several “goodwill” gestures since the KMT came to power.

Wu said a majority of Taiwanese believed the direction of the government’s cross-strait policy was correct, adding that “some people” wanted to “create conflict.”

Meanwhile, former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) office yesterday was evasive about the possibility of a meeting between Lee and the Dalai Lama.

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) downplayed the political impact of the visit, adding that Taiwanese should help the spiritual leader complete his humanitarian visit.

Business heads support reconstruction
　

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE: Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming said that model communities would be developed in areas devastated by Typhoon Morakot
　

By Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, Sep 01, 2009, Page 3
　

“When there are places suffering hardship, we have to help them.”— Rock Hsu, chairman of Kinpo Group

More than 100 business representatives yesterday participated in a ceremony in Taipei to announce their intention to participate in the government’s reconstruction projects to tackle the devastation caused in large areas of southern Taiwan last month by Typhoon Morakot.

“When I was in the south, I heard a victim say that the north is Taiwan’s treasury, the south is its food factory, and the east is its holiday destination, which made me think that when there are places suffering hardship, we have to help them,” said Rock Hsu (許勝雄), chairman of Kinpo Group (金仁寶).

FEEDBACK

The contribution of businesses to the reconstruction effort is not only in response to the government’s expectations, but also to give something back to society, Hsu said.

“Disaster victims need more than a job. They need to develop industries that can link up with local culture. It’s never easy. Having good intentions is not enough, the government must have the implementation capacity to coordinate resources poured in by business,” Hsu said.

GUIDELINES

Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said that any reconstruction projects should be carried out according to land restoration and water management guidelines.

“If we can’t do well in the reconstruction to survive flooding caused by the next El Nino, it is possible that businesses’ responsibility will be looked into in the future,” Gou said.

Gou said that he also worried that the rules and regulations on the government’s procurement and construction projects would cause inefficiency and hinder private sector participation.

MISGIVINGS

In response, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) tried to clear up misgivings.

Liu said that all reconstruction projects would be implemented consistent with the principles of land recovery and that the Executive Yuan’s Post-Typhoon Morakot Reconstruction Committee would serve as a window for coordination between the government and business.

Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) laid out the government’s vision of rebuilding ravaged villages, saying that they would be model communities where the natural environment is preserved, people live a high-tech life and agriculture or industry thrives.

HOME NOT HOUSE

Liu said the government’s goal is to help victims establish a “home” and not just a “house.”

Chao Teng-hsiung (趙藤雄), chairman of the Taipei-based Far Glory Group (遠雄集團), said that he would like to talk to victims face to face to understand what they think of the reconstruction plan.

China faces third case of mass lead poisoning of kids

AP, BEIJING
Tuesday, Sep 01, 2009, Page 5

Two hundred children are suffering from lead poisoning in southwest China, the nation’s third case of mass sickening in the past month, an official newspaper said yesterday.

Parents in Tongdu, a township in Yunnan Province’s capital of Kunming, blamed the poisoning on a nearby industrial park, while local environmental officials attributed it to vehicle exhaust, the China Daily reported.

60 PERCENT

The Yunnan official overseeing the province’s lead prevention office said that up to 60 percent of children under 14 are suffering from lead poisoning in areas of Yunnan with high mining activity — including Dongchuan, where the industrial park is located.

The Child Lead Prevention and Cure Office in Yunnan conducted the survey of random children last year, director Liu Dakun said.

He declined to take further questions or say how excessive the levels were. He did not comment on this case.

An official with the Yunnan provincial environmental agency, however, said he was unclear of the situation, while calls to the Kunming environmental bureau yesterday rang unanswered.

Earlier last month, more than 1,300 children in central Hunan Province and at least 615 children in northern Shaanxi Province tested positive for lead poisoning, which can damage the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure and memory loss.

Those cases have been linked to metal processing plants near their homes and schools. Both plants have been shut down.

ANGER

Anger is growing in China over public safety scandals in which children have been the main victims. The Communist party is worried that mass protests will threaten the country’s social stability and challenge its grip on power.

In the latest lead poisoning case, environmental officials in Tongdu said it was not linked to industrial pollution but to vehicle exhaust, the China Daily said. But the newspaper quoted parents as saying only children living near the industrial park were sickened.

Mining is one of the biggest industries in Yunnan, a mountainous region that is home to many of China’s ethnic minorities and has large deposits of zinc, lead, tin and other metals, according to the provincial government’s Web site.

Now the punishment begins

Tuesday, Sep 01, 2009, Page 8

It was evident from the very beginning that the Dalai Lama’s visit — though supposedly apolitical — would not be well received by Beijing. Forced into a corner by its mismanagement of Typhoon Morakot, the embattled administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had no choice but to grant the spiritual leader a visa, but attempted to mitigate a backlash by hinting that Ma and the Dalai Lama would not meet and dispatching a high-level Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) representative to Beijing.

As expected, Beijing lashed out at Taiwan for allowing the visit, but it has done so in calibrated fashion to spare Ma, who remains crucial to the Chinese leadership’s unification designs. It reserved its fiercest criticism for the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), whose local representatives issued the invitation, as well as the visitor himself.

Still, Beijing had to act. In its view, Ma could not lose face, but a slap on the wrist was still in order. It is therefore no coincidence that yesterday the organizers of the upcoming Deaflympics in Taipei announced that China confirmed it would boycott the opening ceremony.

That China would risk “hurting the feelings” of the residents of Taipei — a predominantly pro-KMT city whose mayor invested substantial political capital in the event — is a sign that the visit will not be without repercussions for Ma and the KMT.

Beijing is performing a careful balancing act. Its awareness that Morakot seriously weakened the Ma administration has compelled it to abandon its usual carpet-bombing approach to criticism and be a little more surgical. The fact that the Chinese troupe that was scheduled to perform during the ceremony will still do so is likely a sign of this.

Beijing also had to act because of its global propaganda strategy to isolate the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan cause. Muted, targeted criticism, with an indirect snipe at Ma through its boycott of the Deaflympics’ opening ceremony, was its only option.

While it needs Ma to remain in power and to be able to effect pro-China policies such as an economic cooperation framework agreement, Beijing is also using the Dalai Lama’s visit to remind Ma who is in charge. Consequently, Beijing will likely tell the Ma administration that while it was willing to show flexibility by not reacting too strongly to the visit, the price for this would come in the form of concessions — by Taiwan.

This development suggests that Ma is in a vicious circle. He is forced to make political decisions based not on his Cabinet’s assessment of what is best for the country, but as unavoidable concessions to activist elements such as Morakot victims, the DPP and Beijing.

It’s even worse if a president has to make a concession to mitigate the harm done by a previous concession, as could happen after Beijing seeks to cash in on its “goodwill” in not retaliating over the Dalai Lama’s visit.

When political imperatives are driven by external forces — as is the case here — a president is no longer a leader.

He’s a puppet.

Ma shows weakness
　

Tuesday, Sep 01, 2009, Page 8

The Dalai Lama is not only a religious symbol but also symbolizes freedom and democracy. He is an important asset of civilization. That is why he is welcomed globally. He is only one person, without substantive power or a lot of money. All he has is wisdom and heart, which frightens China.

Taiwanese welcome him because his visit proves democracy in Taiwan is still alive. It also clearly shows that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is too weak to meet him, and is not fit to represent Taiwan. Ma presents himself as China’s chess piece.

Ma’s horrible failure on Typhoon Morakot forced him to accept the visit. But if he met the Dalai Lama, who is perhaps China’s No. 1 enemy, his pro-China policy would be compromised.

This case proves Ma’s pro-China policy is so weak that it cannot be trusted. An economic cooperation framework agreement is no longer viable as any tie with China is in danger of sudden change if China becomes angry. Given this, what does Ma have to persuade us to sign anything with China?

To the democratic world, he is a political clown of Beijing. After the Dalai Lama leaves, Ma would do best to remain silent, drinking tea or coffee, because whenever he appears he is incapable of doing anything right.

Shame on Ma for being afraid to meet the Dalai Lama.

Kuo-Jung ni
Hsinchu

　

It is laughable to see Ma and his chosen few bow to disaster victims wherever they have gone over the last few days. The world witnessed as he even asked for a 12 second bow. It is absurd and disingenuous.

Ma is inept and incompetent. He has no understanding of the suffering of Taiwanese. It took him more than seven days to act as commander-in-chief. One whole village was buried on the second day of Typhoon Morakot. Now it turns out more than 500 people perished.

In contrast, within 24 hours of the issue coming to light, he spent more than five hours in intensive meetings with his advisors and approved the granting of a visa for the Dalai Lama. Yet he was not granted a visa before the disaster, when Ma told the press the timing was not proper.

Ma approved the visit not because he chose to, but because he was forced to in order to avoid the anger of the people who lost their loved ones. The Dalai Lama is the best person to console and comfort those who lost their loved ones, homes and land. This is where they were born, brought up and where their ancestors lived and their culture was built.

Essentially, the government watched the disaster unfold and did nothing. Society one day will examine what he has done to destroy precious history and humanity.

Ma’s treatment of Aborigines is not up to basic human rights standards. He even once said he treated them as humans and educates them. Ma forgets Aboriginals as a group have voted for the KMT regime in the past. It’s unimaginable that he would mistreat those he owes so much. Ma has no heart.

There are numerous examples. When bridges collapsed and cars plunged into the river during the last big typhoon, Ma consoled the victim’s families and promised to offer government compensation.

It has been more than a year now, but the families have received nothing. Worse yet, we knew that the government and the victims were tangled in the judicial system. The government has no desire to deliver on its promise.

Another example comes from when Ma was mayor of Taipei.

He fought hard not to pay insurance fees Taipei owed the central government. In the final appeal process it was declared that Taipei had to sell property in order to pay the fees of more than NT$30 billion (US$910 million).

Ma is now president and he uses his Cabinet to manipulate the situation so that Taipei will not have to pay. Instead, his government increased health insurance premiums for all Taiwanese.

Ma has only been president for 450 days. Taiwan’s sovereignty has eroded badly and the Taiwanese public is suffering. The crisis is no longer up to the Taiwanese to decide their own future since Ma won the vote with a series of false promises.

Ma must resign. If Taiwan falls into the hands of China, security in the Pacific will be endangered. This is a global strategic crisis. Japan and the US cannot sit idle. Everything Ma and his government touch brings about disaster.

TIEN C. CHENG
Libertyville, Illinois