More Morakot

The damage that Typhoon Morakot left in its wake has been devastating. The mountainous villages in Southern Taiwan were the most badly hit by the storm. Entire villages were completely wiped off the map. hundreds if not thousands are still stranded in the mountains, days after the typhoon left Taiwan to prey on China. Apparently, relief efforts have been sub par. I'm skeptical about these claims, however. Natural disasters are always difficult to deal with, both during and after. Considering the political environment that Taiwan is currently in, I'm not sure that this isn't just an attempt by certain Taiwanese media outlets to pin the blame on President Ma Ying Jiou (馬英九), just like the aftermath of hurricane Katrina was placed squarely at the feet of George Bush, with only non mainstream media pointing out that governors and mayors shared in some of the responsibility.

Is it possible that the current administration really did neglected these people. The most common complaint against President Ma is that he and his administration felt too proud to ask for any humanitarian aid. ha may be true, however, it's obviously a highly subjective statement. It is fact, however, that international governments and humanitarian groups have provided assistance to Taiwan.

Whether we will see any substantial changes to Taiwanese policy regarding typhoons is not known. Whether President Ma emerges unscathed seems unlikely, but the extent of his political damage is unclear.