A magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred in Taitung on the 18th. A three-story building in Yuli Town, Hualien County collapsed, and four people were trapped and all were rescued. (Taiwan "Central News Agency")
According to Taiwanese media reports: A magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred in southeastern Taiwan recently, causing major disasters in Hualien and Taitung. The earthquake has caused 1 death, 142 injuries, 2 bridges have been broken, 3 houses have collapsed, and many places have been cut off from water and electricity, and hundreds of people have been trapped in the mountainous areas. The Taiwan authorities held a video disaster prevention meeting on the evening of the 18th. As a result, Tsai Ing-wen only appeared after waiting for two hours on the Internet. However, after arriving at the scene, she got up and left directly. She neither listened to Taitung County officials' reports on the disaster, nor expressed condolences to the local disaster victims. Yu Mingxun, director of the Transportation and Tourism Development Department of Taitung County Government, posted a document on social media in the early morning of the 19th to "participate in the coldest and most meaningless disaster prevention meeting in my life." Public opinion on the island also denounced Tsai Ing-wen as "cold-blooded". Due to the public's anger, Tsai Ing-wen publicly apologized on the 19th.
In response to the strong earthquake in Taitung, the Taiwan authorities held a disaster prevention meeting at the Disaster Response Center on the evening of the 18th. Taiwan’s leader Tsai Ing-wen, administrative agency head Su Zhenchang, "Interior Department" head Xu Guoyong and others attended the meeting. Taitung and Hualien County Governments participated in the meeting via video. Xu Guoyong, Su Zhenchang and Tsai Ing-wen left after reading the speeches one after another. The video conference signal was immediately cut off. Tsai Ing-wen and others did not leave time to listen to the local government's disaster report, nor did they take the initiative to express condolences.
Tsai Ing-wen held a video disaster prevention meeting at the disaster response command center in Taipei on the 18th, but she left immediately after reading the manuscript, which surprised everyone at Taitung. (Taiwan "Central News Agency")
Taitung County Mayor Rao Qingling said that the authorities notified the meeting at 6 pm on the 18th, and waited until 8 pm to speak. They originally planned to report the local situation after Tsai Ing-wen's speech; but Tsai Ing-wen "lefted after finishing the speech" and "had no intention of communicating with the local area." Hualien County Mayor Xu Zhenwei also made a similar description of the meeting that day, and emphasized that Tsai Ing-wen and others did not ask about the local disaster situation during the meeting.
Yu Mingxun, Director of the Transportation and Tourism Development of Taitung County, issued a document to criticize that the disaster prevention meeting that night was "the coldest and most meaningless disaster prevention meeting in my life." After Tsai Ing-wen and others finished their speeches, they stood up and left, which made the colleagues at the meeting "surprised"; the authorities did not arrange local statements or reports during the entire meeting, and Tsai Ing-wen and others did not say hello, comfort or encourage morale.
Yu Mingxun said bluntly, "I really don't know what the meaning of this meeting?" "Where is the care for the people of Taitung? Is it because Taitung African green administration, the disaster prevention meeting can be so rough and hasty?"
Tsai Ing-wen apologized and argued that it was not prepared enough
In response, Tsai Ing-wen said on the 19th that due to the hasty staff and insufficient preparation, she failed to communicate directly with the local government, and apologized to the two county magistrates of Taitung and Hualien and the disaster relief team.
Although Tsai Ing-wen has come forward to apologize, a large number of netizens still burst into Facebook, criticizing Tsai Ing-wen as "a reading machine that made Taitung County Government wait for two hours." Netizens angrily yelled that "disaster relief is not just about prosecuting", "Besides reading manuscripts, it is also about reading manuscripts", "Go to the scene in Taitung, it is useless to put on a show at the center of disaster response", and "I can't even do a good job in a show."
and netizens also feel sorry for the Tsai administration, "It's just slogans", "The election situation is greater than the disaster situation", "Wait for a reading machine", "I heard that you left in a hurry after reading the manuscript? It's much different from the enthusiasm of assisting the election."
Source: Ta Kung Pao
