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DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Dalai Lama visits Taiwan typhoon victims amid Chinese anger

Taiwan to release prisoners to help typhoon clear-up: official
Taiwan plans to release prisoners early to help clear up after Typhoon Morakot, an official said Monday, promising to be careful to screen convicts to make sure they will not pose a risk to society. Those eligible for the programme, which will kick off Tuesday, are prisoners sentenced to no more than six months in jail, said the official, a prosecutor with the justice ministry. "We realise that counties and cities in the south that were hard hit by the typhoon still need reconstruction efforts. The programme is expected to provide help," an official from the ministry told AFP. "If necessary, eligible inmates or convicts will be sent to the disaster-hit areas to clear roads or rivers of landslides and clean communities," she said. Morakot, the worst typhoon to hit Taiwan in decades, battered the island in early August, leaving at least 571 people dead. The ministry estimated up to 30,000 prisoners are eligible to apply for early release under the programme. It follows an amendment to the criminal code passed earlier this year allowing people to commute jail time or fines into community work. "Of course, we have a prudent screening mechanism to decide who can be released. Their releases cannot danger social safety," the prosecutor said. "We will watch closely how communities react to the programme for possible adjustments," she added. Photo courtesy AFP.
by Staff Writers
 Kaohsiung, Taiwan (AFP) Aug 31, 2009
 The Dalai Lama headed for typhoon hit areas of southern Taiwan Monday on the first full day of a tour that China has warned will hurt improving ties with the island.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader headed straight for Hsiaolin, a village where at least 424 people died in Typhoon Morakot, cancelling a press conference that local officials feared could have angered Beijing.

"I'm a monk. I was asked to say prayers for peace," the Dalai Lama said late Sunday after arriving in Taiwan from India. "There is no politics. This is humanitarian in nature."

However, shortly after the Dalai Lama's arrival, the Chinese government issued its second stern criticism of the trip, warning that it would bring about a setback in cross-strait ties.

"The Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan is bound to have a negative influence on relations between the mainland and Taiwan," a spokesman for the cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office said, according to China's official Xinhua news agency.

"We resolutely oppose this, and our position is firm and clear. We will keep a close eye on the situation."

China considers Taiwan a part of its territory, and a visit by the Dalai Lama, whom it accuses of wanting to split Tibet from Chinese control, is a source of particular anger in Beijing.

The Dalai Lama is in Taiwan at the invitation of a group of high-profile members of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which wants the island to be formally independent from China.

Taiwan's China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou, who has come in for heavy criticism for his handling of the typhoon, which left at least 571 people dead, approved the Dalai Lama's visit last week.

Observers argue Ma had little choice but to allow the Nobel laureate to travel to the island, but believe he and his ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party will do their utmost to prevent controversy during the visit.

The Dalai Lama was initially scheduled to hold a press conference for local and foreign reporters in Kaohsiung Monday, but the event was called off.

The announcement of the cancellation followed remarks Sunday by Taiwan's parliamentary speaker, a senior KMT figure, suggesting the briefing could have raised issues that would embarrass China.

Despite efforts to focus on the humanitarian aspect of the Dalai Lama's visit, about 30 people demonstrated outside his hotel Monday, accusing him of politicking.

"The Dalai Lama is only staging a political show here," said the leader of the protesters, members of Taiwan's non-Han aboriginal community.

"If the Dalai Lama really wants to help victims and show respect, he should stay in an aboriginal village, not in a big building like this," he said, pointing towards the hotel.

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Taiwan confirms 543 dead, 117 missing after typhoon
 Taipei (AFP) Aug 27, 2009
 Taiwan on Thursday confirmed that 543 people were killed and 117 were missing after Typhoon Morakot struck more than two weeks ago, causing the worst flooding in the island's history. The National Fire Agency said that the latest figures included 397 confirmed deaths from the worst-hit southern village of Hsiaolin, where another 53 people were still unaccounted for. Previously, the death ... read more






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