President Ma Ying-jeou presided over a disaster response conference on the morning of March 13 at the Presidential Office Building. Prior to the meeting, he remarked that the main objective of the conference was to re-examine the disaster preparedness and rescue arrangements for earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear accidents. The president added that the ROC should have contingency plans ready in the event of a nuclear accident. He made the remarks in response to the possible leak of radioactive matter caused by an explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan triggered by the earthquake there. President Ma said that preparations here will provide a solid basis for concrete action should such an incident happen at home.
The president remarked that a severe quake hit Japan on March 11. Estimates on the number of dead are steadily rising, with at least 1,000 deaths, and property damage is in the tens of billions of US dollars. The tsunami, fires, and nuclear accident triggered by the earthquake have created a multi-pronged disaster, dealing a serious blow to Japan. Taiwan and Japan, he said, are both situated along the Pacific earthquake belt. Taiwan must increase its vigilance, especially against the possibility of multi-pronged disasters. President Ma commented that we must have adequate contingency plans in place, and hold discussions in advance of such disasters. In dealing with typhoons, we "hope for the best but prepare for the worst," and must do likewise for earthquakes, which are almost impossible to predict. Since there is no advance warning of earthquakes, the president said, we must re-examine our preparations for such a disaster. The conference presented an opportunity to review disaster preparedness and rescue arrangements for earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear accidents. Meanwhile, the president urged participants at the meeting to examine the economic impact of such disasters. The conclusions reached will serve as a foundation for future preparations, he noted.
President Ma stressed that Japan is a friend of Taiwan and that when the people of Japan are facing adversity, we cannot sit idly by. We will help others in a spirit of empathy, compassion, and humanitarianism, just as we did in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake in mainland China in 2008, the Haiti earthquake in 2010, the recent devastating floods in Australia, and the earthquake that rocked Christchurch, New Zealand. Besides expressing our sympathies to Japan in the wake of the quake there, the president reported that we are dispatching rescue teams to assist in search and rescue operations. The ROC will make a donation of NT$100 million, which will hopefully be of assistance in the post-quake reconstruction effort.
Participants at the conference included Vice President Vincent C. Siew, National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen, Premier Wu Den-yih, Vice Premier Sean C. Chen, Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu, and Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah.