Saturday, July 10

I can't believe I'm agreeing with Annette Lu

According to the Taipei Times,
Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday vowed that disaster relief would always primarily be the responsibility of government...

Chen's comments were interpreted as correcting Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), whose recent comments triggered an angry response from people affected by the devastation.

Lu had said, "It should not be considered genuinely merciful to rescue people who over-cultivated the mountain areas of Central Taiwan and ruined the soil."

Lu had also suggested that storm victims and other residents of central Taiwan move to Central America to assist those countries with development...
Actually she's quoted as saying "如果只是去搶救幾個應該負起濫墾責任的人,以為就是慈悲,往後年復一年,一再做這種事,那是沒有用的,顯然國人沒有從921學到教訓,沒有敬天惜地。" Note what the above quote omits: "It should not be considered genuinely merciful only to rescue a few people who ought to bear the responsibility for having over-cultivated the mountain areas, ruining the soil, and repeat [such rescues] year after year; that is useless. Obviously we [Taiwanese] have learned nothing from the September 21 earthquakes; we have not learned to respect nature." The TT gives her the last word:
Lu's office yesterday defended the vice president, saying she had simply proposed that the nation's mountain resources be allowed time to recover.

"I suggest that the government establish a special administration for mountain-area protection and allow the island's mountain areas a period of time so that they can rest," Lu said.
Still, her suggestion that they move to Central America is ridiculous, and shows how impractical she can be.

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