Taiwan is hit by the strongest earthquake in 25 years,Tsai Ing-wen takes the lead in donating one month’s salary for disaster relief

On April 3, 2024, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen listened to the damage and rescue work report at the Central Emergency Operations Center in New Taipei City. Tsai Ing-wen has taken the lead in donating one month’s salary for disaster relief.

On April 3, a strong earthquake occurred in Hualien, Taiwan. The magnitude was huge and felt throughout Taiwan, with constant aftershocks. The earthquake caused the collapse of four buildings in Hualien. According to statistics from Taiwan's Central Disaster Response Center, as of 8:40 pm on the 4th, the strong earthquake had killed 10 people, injured 1,099 people, trapped 705 people, and left 15 people missing.

According to Taiwan's Central News Agency, Taiwan's Presidential Office announced that in order to assist in post-disaster reconstruction, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice President Lai Ching-te, Executive President Chen Jianren, and Vice President Cheng Wen-can will all personally donate one month's income for disaster relief and pray. May the injured recover soon and the deceased rest in peace; Taiwan’s Vice President-elect Hsiao Meiqin also stated that she will donate 300,000 yuan in her personal capacity to the special disaster relief account of Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare; Taipei Mayor Chiang Wanan and Miaoli County Magistrate Zhong Dong Jin and Tainan Mayor Huang Weizhe also said that they would donate one month's salary to help Hualien rebuild.

The main disaster area of ​​this earthquake is Hualien. Another report from the Central News Agency pointed out that Hualien County Magistrate Xu Zhenwei said on the 4th that Taiwan’s Executive Yuan has allocated NT$300 million for emergency earthquake relief, and donations from all walks of life are also continuing to pour in. Although the road to reconstruction is long and arduous, the government We will face it together with the people. In addition, if people whose homes are classified as dangerous buildings need to find temporary rental housing in the future, the Hualien government will also provide subsidies of up to NT$100,000 to help people find housing as soon as possible in the short term.

Officials on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have very different attitudes towards dealing with major disasters

After the strong earthquake occurred in Taiwan, the outside world discovered that the attitudes of officials on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were very different when facing major natural disasters. In contrast to Taiwan's officials who have actively provided disaster relief, according to our previous reports, in August last year, North China suffered heavy rains and floods due to Typhoon Dusuri. According to Chinese official statistics, the floods killed at least 78 people. However, some people questioned the official death toll and criticized the authorities for not allowing residents to safely evacuate before ordering the reservoirs to release floodwaters.

In addition, there were no traces of local officials in the disaster area immediately after the disaster occurred. It was also reported that hundreds of thousands of people in Hebei were stranded while escaping from the disaster. Official rescue forces and supplies were seriously insufficient, while local civilian rescue teams However, they were not allowed to go to the disaster relief site because they did not receive an invitation letter from the local government. At the same time, in order to "protect" Beijing and the "Xiong'an New Area" promoted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, after the floods, many places in Hebei were artificially stored floods, sparking public resentment. When people tried to meet with local officials to argue, they were suppressed by special police. A villager was knocked to the ground. 

Wang Juntao, a doctor of political science at Columbia University in the United States, analyzed in an interview with this station that the differences in the response methods of officials on both sides of the Taiwan Strait when disasters occur are related to different political systems. Elected officials in Taiwan are responsible to the people, so they will quickly express their opinions as soon as a disaster occurs. In contrast, officials in mainland China are appointed by superiors and are therefore "responsible to superiors." Unless superior officials express concern about the incident, local officials will not Make a difference.

Wang Juntao added that there are three main differences between officials on both sides of the Taiwan Strait when dealing with disasters: whether they will appear at the disaster relief site in a timely manner, whether they will admit their faults, and whether they will invite experts for review afterwards. He said: "The first difference is whether officials can go to the scene in the first place after a disaster occurs, and what they do after arriving at the scene. ... Under the supervision of an independent media, government officials, even if they are professional or reasonable If the cause is not present at the scene and measures are taken in a timely manner, you will lose points in public opinion and affect your public image."

Wang Juntao said: "The second difference is that when an accident occurs, do you admit that you made mistakes or faults in the accident, or do you cover up the problem? In this regard, Taiwan's officials will look at the disaster situation squarely and realistically. The accident allows the accident to be fully presented to the public, while mainland officials tend to erase the existence of this problem. ...The last difference is that after the accident, Taiwan officials will let experts study the problem and find a solution. Mainland officials because Cover up the problem. If it has not been exposed, you will not find the root cause. If it has been exposed, you will pretend to be arrogant and look for scapegoats, extricating yourself from responsibility and obscuring the real root cause of the problem."

Geng Shuang thanked the international community for Taiwan at the United Nations. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized "shameless"

On the other hand, the strong earthquake in Taiwan has also attracted the attention of the international community. Dignitaries from more than 50 countries have expressed condolences to Taiwan. In response, Geng Shuang, deputy representative of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations, said at a United Nations Security Council meeting on children's rights that other representatives at the meeting mentioned the strong earthquake that occurred in the "Taiwan region of China". For this, the Beijing authorities thanked the international Social expressions of sympathy and care. Geng Shuang's remarks aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Taiwanese people.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also severely condemned this. According to the Taiwan Free Times, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Liu Yongjian said: "China's shameless behavior of using the Taiwan earthquake to carry out cognitive operations in the international arena highlights that China has only political calculations against Taiwan. Authoritarian nature without good intentions." Liu Yongjian reiterated that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is a sovereign and independent country and is not affiliated with the People's Republic of China. At the same time, he also thanked the international community for its immediate and warm condolences.

In response to Geng Shuang's speech, Ye Yaoyuan, chair professor of international studies at the University of St. Thomas in the United States, analyzed this and said that this shows the Beijing authorities' efforts to "internalize" the Taiwan issue: "When he (Geng Shuang) expressed his gratitude to other countries on behalf of Taiwan, It means that "Taiwan is mine". Whether you pay attention to Taiwan, care about Taiwan, or help Taiwan, you are actually helping the territory of "our country". Therefore, he uses this method to "internalize" and "internalize" 'Taiwan issue."

 After the strong earthquake in Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army continues to harass the Taiwan Strait

At the same time, in response to the strong earthquake in Taiwan, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of China, previously stated: "Relevant parties in the mainland are highly concerned and express their sincere condolences to the Taiwan compatriots affected by the disaster. They will pay close attention to the disaster and subsequent situations, and are willing to provide disaster relief assistance." Taiwan's Central News Agency also pointed out that after the earthquake, the Chinese media carried out a large-scale promotion of the Hualien earthquake, and related news also appeared in the ninth article of the CCTV News evening broadcast.

However, although the Beijing authorities expressed their willingness to assist in disaster relief, data released by Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense pointed out that since the earthquake, there were still 3 People's Liberation Army aircraft and 7 People's Liberation Army warships operating around the Taiwan Strait, making Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense vulnerable during the earthquake disaster. , homeland security needs to be continuously and closely monitored.