Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-17-Speech-4-220"
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"en.20090917.16.4-220"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Republic of Taiwan was shaken to its foundations on 8 August. Typhoon Morakot swept across the island with unbridled force, leaving more than 750 people dead. Thousands lost their belongings and large areas of land were laid waste. The damage amounts to more than EUR 2.5 billion. The reconstruction of an infrastructure that has been widely damaged will take months. As a token of our solidarity, we Europeans wished to support the Taiwanese people by providing disaster relief.
Mrs Kuneva, the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) supports the initiatives that the European Commission has instigated. It is all the more surprising that the Taiwanese embassies were instructed to refuse all foreign aid. That led to strong criticism and on 13 August to much needed adjustments to a completely abortive crisis management programme. Shortly after that, Prime Minister Liu Chao-shiuan resigned.
Another cause of irritation was the visit to Taiwan by the Dalai Lama over several days in September. He merely wanted to pray for the victims with the survivors. Sympathy has long been the message of the much-acclaimed speeches and books of the Dalai Lama. Once again the Chinese government made loud protests and brought a huge amount of pressure to bear. It is outrageous that Peking has once again made a political issue out of a purely humanitarian act by the Dalai Lama. Taiwan must ask itself whose side it is actually on. President Ma Ying-jeou only allowed the Nobel Peace Prize winner to enter the country after strong protests from his own people.
Commissioner, we need to intensify our dialogue with Taiwan – on humanitarian issues, but also on the issue of our fundamental values. Democracy, human rights and solidarity are inseparable, even in this emerging Asiatic country."@en1
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