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Taiwanese rescuers shine in Haiti
MEANS OF ASSISTANCE: A proposal by France that Taiwan
forgive debt owed to it by Haiti to help the devastated country sparked little
enthusiasm in Taipei
By Jenny W. Hsu
STAFF REPORTER WITH CNA , PORT-AU-PRINCE
Tuesday, Jan 19, 2010, Page 1
¡§Debt relief is one option and we are still considering
the idea.¡¨¡X Henry Chen, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman
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In this UN handout photo, Taiwanese rescue team members look
for UN personnel missing under the rubble of a house in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,
on Sunday.
PHOTO: AFP/MARCO DORMINO, UN
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The first Taiwanese search and rescue squad has rescued two
people since Sunday during operations in the earthquake-ravaged Caribbean nation
of Haiti.
The first survivor, a French citizen, was a security guard at the UN
Peacekeeping Force¡¦s police dormitory.
He had been buried under rubble for five days before being rescued.
Chen Shun-tien, one of the Taiwanese squad leaders, said the survivor was in
good shape overall and could speak, although he seemed weak.
RESCUE
Chen said the Taiwanese team rushed to the site of the collapsed police
dormitory after receiving an emergency notice from the UN post-quake relief
coordination center that gunshots were heard coming from the rubble, which
seemed to indicate that a survivor or survivors were trapped underneath the
building.
With the assistance of sniffer dogs and sonar equipment, the Taiwanese squad
identified the location of the survivor and a US search and rescue team pitched
in with heavy-duty excavation equipment.
At one point, there was some disagreement between the Taiwanese and US rescue
squads over which excavation method should be used, but they soon resolved the
matter and the survivor was rescued though a smoothly coordinated effort.
A Salvadoran search and rescue team also joined the operation.
PRAISE
The Taiwanese squad¡¦s performance was praised by the US and Salvadoran teams.
A representative of the US team expressed his admiration for the Taiwanese crew
and described the mission as a perfect example of teamwork.
Lisandro Alvarenga, head of the Salvadoran team, also said the operation was a
wonderful event.
¡§Nothing is happier than rescuing a survivor,¡¨ he told CNA.
Alvarenga attributed the success to the Taiwanese squad¡¦s accurate mapping of
the survivor¡¦s location.
The second survivor, rescued today by the Taiwanese team, was Haitian.
The Taiwanese team reached the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on Saturday
after a long wait in the neighboring Dominican Republic because of air traffic
congestion.
After its arrival in Haiti at 1pm on Saturday, the team immediately joined the
search for survivors.
The team of 14 specialists, two sniffer dogs and 2,000kg of equipment and
medical supplies, including life detectors, reported to a UN coordination center
to share assignments after responding to a call by the Republic of China (ROC)
embassy in Haiti to search the collapsed central government building to
determine whether anyone was still alive beneath the mountains of rubble.
Since their arrival in Haiti, some members of the team have provided medical
services to the wounded.
FRENCH IDEA
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday it remained
non-committal to a French suggestion that it reduce Haiti¡¦s debt as a means to
help it in its post-earthquake relief work, saying Taiwan had already launched
several humanitarian projects in Haiti and was firmly committed to
reconstruction efforts.
Ministry spokesman Henry Chen (³¯»Ê¬F) said Taiwan was engaged in several
humanitarian projects in Haiti and cash loans was only one of the many aspects
of Taiwan¡¦s overall aid plan.
¡§Debt relief is one option and we are still considering the idea,¡¨ he said.
Out of respect for the Haitian government, the ministry declined to provide the
amount of debt.
On Sunday, French economy minister Christine LaGarde urged Haiti¡¦s major
creditors from the so-called ¡§Paris Club,¡¨ more specifically Taiwan and
Venezuela ¡X the country¡¦s biggest debt holders ¡X to forgive Haiti¡¦s outstanding
debt as a way to assist the relief effort.
France led the way by canceling US$5.8 million in debt owed to it by Haiti.
So far, Taiwan has pledged US$5 million in cash aid as well as other supplies.
The National Fire Agency confirmed that one of Taiwan¡¦s search and rescue teams
had found two survivors.
A second relief team, made up of doctors from the Department of Health, the Red
Cross Society and other NGOs, had also reached Haiti, the ministry said.
The first shipment of supplies from Taiwan, which includes water, medicines,
medical supplies and food, is scheduled arrive in the Dominican Republic
tomorrow night via FedEx and will be transported to Haiti by land immediately
after the goods arrive, the ministry said.
News reports said Taiwan had rejected China¡¦s invitation to join efforts in the
search and rescue work in Haiti.
Despite a lack of diplomatic relations with Haiti, China has been an avid
participant in the relief work there.
A CNA report from Beijing quoted Wei Wei (ÃQ¸«), the director general of China¡¦s
Department of Consular Affairs, as saying yesterday that China was ready to
provide consular help to Taiwanese in Haiti.
Chen said the ROC embassy in Haiti was fully capable of meeting the needs of all
Taiwanese compatriots.
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