Typhoon response loses Taiwan's leaders support

BEIJING, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Taiwan's government is receiving strong criticism over its untimely and disorganized rescue efforts in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, which lashed Taiwan from Aug. 7-9. Public dissatisfaction could hurt the ruling Kuomintang Party in December's local elections and beyond.

As of Tuesday, official figures on known damage caused by the typhoon were 127 deaths, 307 missing and 45 injured, as well as economic losses of about $37.1 million. The actual figures are believed to be much higher. As many as 600 people may have died in the island's most serious natural calamity for 200 years, according to Taiwan media.

Nearly 500 residents of Siaolin Village and around 30 of Hsinfa Village in southern Taiwan are believed to have been buried by landslides caused by the typhoon. They have not been counted in the official figures.

The Taiwanese public has criticized the government for imprecise forecasts of the strength of the typhoon and the areas it would hit. They also complained of long delays in rescue efforts and uncaring attitudes toward victims in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs initially instructed Taiwan's embassies to refuse offers of foreign aid. Responsibility has fallen on MOFA Deputy Minister Andrew Li-Yan Hsia, who claimed he forgot to add the word "temporarily" to the notice he sent out. On Tuesday, Hsia offered to resign.

The typhoon brought some 102 inches of rain, exceeding the island's average annual rainfall and causing huge floods and landslides. Yet the government waited nearly a week before announcing it would welcome foreign aid. By then the 72-hour window of opportunity for rescuing victims had long passed.

President Ma Ying-jeou and key Cabinet members also infuriated the public with their responses to the disaster. Ma has been heavily criticized for failing to mobilize Taiwan's armed forces promptly. Without instructions from Ma, the army sent only 740 soldiers on rescue missions to the stricken areas on the first day, Aug. 8.

Ma was attending a friend's wedding on Aug. 7 while Morakot was approaching. He waited until Monday -- three days after the typhoon hit -- to call a special national security meeting to mobilize troops and organize rescue and relief efforts in the badly stricken southern counties of Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Taitung and Chiayi.

Liu Chao-shiuan, head of Ma's Cabinet, was criticized for going to have his hair dyed and chatting in a lighthearted way at the barbershop on Aug. 11, while rescue efforts were at their height.

Ma also appeared insensitive to the plight of victims when, in an initial comment after the disaster, he seemed to criticize villagers who lost their lives by "insisting on staying rather than evacuating."

"Ma Ying-jeou is obviously inferior to (China's Premier) Wen Jiabao," said Sisy Wen-Chien Chen, a media critic and former politician, comparing Ma's belated response to Wen's immediate action following the earthquake that struck mainland China's Sichuan province last year.

Other Taiwan commentators compared Ma unfavorably with his predecessors, Chen Shui-bian and Lee Teng-Hui. Lee was highly praised for his immediate and effective response to a major earthquake on Sept. 21, 1999.

Ma won the 2008 election largely because he was seen as free of corruption, unlike his predecessor Chen, who is now facing corruption charges. But many Taiwanese netizens now say that an incompetent president could be worse than a corrupt one. Some are demanding the resignation of Ma and his Cabinet.

Ma tried to repair the damage by offering an official apology at a news conference on Tuesday. He announced that a national disaster prevention and relief agency would be set up. The army would also shift its focus with troops given extensive training in disaster response.

Taiwan's military has focused for 60 years on preparing to fight China's PLA. In his news conference Ma said that Taiwan's enemy was no longer necessarily the people across the Taiwan Strait -- it could be nature. He pledged that the army would be better prepared.

China's army faced a similar challenge following the Sichuan earthquake last year. The PLA was highly praised in state media, although its lack of training for relief work was apparent to experts.

It is unclear whether Ma's efforts will appease an angry public. An opinion poll conducted by Taiwanese media after the news conference showed that dissatisfaction with Ma and Liu had risen to 54 percent and 59 percent respectively.