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October 1, 1999 Taiwan's Great Earthquake and the Mandate of HeavenCRISIS AND CHARACTERThe Chinese word for crisis is comprised of two characters: wei and ji, meaning danger and opportunity. In other words the Chinese concept of crisis is "an opportunity fraught with danger" or a "dangerous opportunity." This intriguing bit of etymology has been cited so often and so indiscriminately it is now a cliché. Crises bring out both the best and the worst in human beings. During life and death crises, peoples' "personas," the masks they wear during everyday life, fall away and their true faces are exposed for all the world to see. Hollywood screenwriters understand this. Extraordinary crises which force character revelation are the basis for countless paint by the numbers disaster movies, from "Airport" to "Earthquake," all debased variants of the only classic of the genre, "The High and the Mighty," a 1950's John Wayne star vehicle. Taiwan's "9-21 Great Earthquake," the worst the island has experienced in a century (2100 dead, 9000 injured) has turned out to be a real life Irwin Allen disaster movie, in which countless "common" people displayed uncommon grace under pressure. THE GOODTaiwan's crisis brought out the best in millions of compassionate strangers from all over the world, who provided expert rescue teams and generous disaster relief. Taiwan's crisis brought out the best in millions of Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, who out of concern for relatives and loved ones jammed phone lines between the island and the mainland. |
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Bevin
Chu is an American architect of Chinese descent registered to practice
in Texas. Currently living and working in Taiwan, Chu is the son
of a retired high-ranking diplomat with the ROC (Taiwan) government.
His column, "The Strait Scoop," now appears Fridays at
Antiwar.com. Archived Columns Taiwan's
Great Earthquake and the Mandate of Heaven Taiwan's
Little Emperors Globocops
With Guillotines Taiwan
Independence and the Stockholm Syndrome Taiwan Independence and Free Lunches (8/31/99) |
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Mainland Chinese rescue teams, seasoned experts with valuable experience earned at enormous human cost during the 8.3 magnitude Tangshan quake of 1976, were made available to the ROC within hours of the initial shockwaves, and kept available for the duration of the crisis. On Taiwan, the three million strong "Buddhist Compassion Relief" Tzu Chi Association, without any prompting or media fanfare, swiftly mobilized, dispatching well-organized and highly disciplined teams of Buddhist nuns with emergency supplies of drinking water and rations to hard hit disaster sites. TV news crews eager to capture human interest footage of them in action were asked politely to refrain, as their presence impeded their rescue efforts to the detriment of the victims. Buddhist nuns weren't the only organization to operate with military precision. The ROC Army Corp of Engineers also earned the respect and gratitude of countless quake victims. New Party Chairman Lee Ching-hua and concerned New Party officials chartered a helicopter on their own initiative, loaded it up with emergency medical supplies and flew them to a remote fogged-in mountain disaster site. They distributed the supplies and evacuated a full load of injured quake victims. New Party Legislator Fung Ting-kuo, whose district surrounds the epicenter, went days without sleep, working around the clock addressing one emergency after another. Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou confirmed Taipei voters' wisdom by exercising considerable wisdom of his own. The father of two sons saved after being buried under 12 stories of rubble for 130 hours thanked Ma for his solid judgment. Ma ordered the site sprayed with water so that anyone trapped beneath could drink and not die from dehydration before they could be reached by rescue crews. THE BADSadly, like an Irwin Allen disaster movie, Taiwan's crisis also revealed the ineptitude of the political hacks who comprise Lee Teng-hui's separatist KMT mainstream faction. We will probably never learn how many unnecessary deaths their lethal combination of incompetence and indifference inflicted on the people of Taiwan. Rescue experts inform us that the first 72 hours following a disaster, either natural or man-made, are the most critical. Victims not reached during this window of opportunity usually don't survive. Rescue experts who rushed to Taiwan from halfway around the world, anxious to swing into action saving lives, were left cooling their heels by clueless KMT bureaucrats, even as quake victims remained trapped under mountains of rubble. Rescue teams from Britain, Spain and Mexico confided their frustration with the Lee Teng-hui administration's mind-boggling incompetence. A United Daily News article entitled "Who's in Charge?" quoted incredulous international rescue workers who swore "never in their lives had they witnessed such a chaotic command system." New Party Legislator Hsieh Chi-Ta, cited for outstanding public service by Taiwan's Press Association, invoked the picturesque metaphor of dinosaurs. One could smack these lumbering giants on the tail yet run away before their tiny brains reacted to the pain. Whether this is paleontologically accurate is beside the point. It was an apt metaphor for the ruling KMT's torpor in Taiwan's hour of need. What was President Lee Teng-hui doing during this critical 72 hours? Lee, Vice-president Lien Chan, and Premier Vincent Siew spent the first 48 hours "visually inspecting" disaster sites by helicopter. Lee requisitioned one Sikorsky Seahawk for himself plus three more for his retinue of personal bodyguards and presidential office staffers. This four helo squadron arrived at each disaster site empty-handed. No food. No medicine. No rescue equipment. When asked by quake victims at successive disaster sites what Lee intended to do to help, Lee informed them he would "first complete his 'visual inspections,' then study the matter in greater detail, and finally set up an emergency rescue center." Seventy-two hours later, having completed his checklist, Lee Teng-hui was ready to deal with the emergency. What were KMT party hacks doing about the earthquake? Restoring downed telecommunications links in order to determine which areas suffered what sort of damage and what type of assistance they would need? Clearing blocked roadways so rescue personnel and equipment could get through? Coordinating domestic and foreign rescue efforts to avoid wasteful duplication of manpower and materiel? The answer is none of the above. KMT party hacks were holding marathon debates about compensation for quake victims. How much for each person killed, how much for each person injured, how much for each person maimed. Rather than trying to save the living, they were busy figuring out how to mollify surviving family members by buying them off with public monies. Alarmed by a rising tide of public anger, KMT party hacks started showing up at disaster sites accompanied by TV news crews. Not only did these callous opportunists fail to provide timely and appropriate disaster assistance, their "celebrity" appearances at quake sites for transparently self-serving motives got in the way of private efforts initiated once the public realized the government was out to lunch. One quake victim summed up public cynicism when he told reporters "We want nothing, except food, water, and coffins. Big Shots showing up here we can do without." AND THE UGLY – MR. DEMOCRACYOne Big Shot in particular, Lee Teng-hui, ROC President and KMT Party Chairman, was not about to pay the slightest attention to what ignorant quake victims wanted. He would decide what they wanted. His arrogance would claim a five year old quake victim's life.
MR. DEMOCRACY FLATTENS
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