Marakot and the Ghost of the Machine

In yesterday’s Taipei Times newspaper (August 18) I read more of the horrible blunder that led to almost a week’s delay in the request for and arrival of international relief aid to help rescue and assist victims of rain-swollen Typhoon Marakot, which devastated the southern half of the island nation on August 8, 2009. [ See: “Back in Taiwan, Ou Apologizes…” ]

What I am reading yet again informs my suspicion that Taiwan’s civil service machine, its deeply entrenched network of bureaucrats, remains a holdover of Chinese Nationalist colonialism whose purpose is contrary to the survival and well-being of Taiwan and its people.

Yesterday’s news (August 18) reports Ministry of Foreign Affairs chief Francisco Ou as apologizing again for a memo instructing all overseas offices and embassies not to accept foreign aid other than cash. Minister Ou, in classic Nationalist Party (Kuomingtang--KMT) fashion, then tried to push the blame onto the shoulders of others. Why do I say “classic” fashion?

Well, I cannot forget this is the political organization

that supported three decades of “White Terror,” a nightmare that engulfed thousands of people, innocents pulled from their homes in the middle of the night, executed and buried in unmarked graves merely for seeking freedom of speech. (The tiny gravestone on the left is all that identifies one of these victims in a lonely spot of a Taipei cemetery that was only recently discovered.)

The Nationalist Party has blood on its hands,. It is a party that historically has a high tolerance for the notion that those unworthy of Nationalist values are at least worthy of imprisonment, torture and murder. And it is the party that established a self-maintaining killing machine that functioned at its best during the White Terror period, and which boasts a sister machine that still functions at full tilt in China, the land that birthed the deformed monstrous fetuses of Nationalist and Communist Parties.

Both machines operate not on gas and oil, but on blood and flesh. And once you create an independently functioning machine that runs on blood, you had better make sure you supply the machine with a steady supply of blood and bone.

And perhaps that is why in Taiwan the now-defunct National Security Agency‘s “secret police” eventually began feeding upon its own, tossing previously loyal bureaucrats and torturers into the hopper. When they ran low on innocent civilians, torturers pointed at other torturers and bureaucrats fingered fellow bureaucrats as Red Spies in need of psychological reconditioning available from a bullet in the brain.

Since the very welcome death of mini-me dictator Ching-kuo Chiang in 1988, the murder machine has been dismantled. But the odor of grinding gears, two decades later, continues to permeate the walls of the surviving Civil Service bureaucracy. Like the lingering odor of baked bread leads to hunger, perhaps the smell of blood encourages another sort of salivation, a desire to slash out and tear into another person’s life. And here today is Foreign Minister Ou, quick to slash out by passing blame to others, preferably his vulnerable subordinates.

Ou’s memo refusing aid was in print just one day after the Foreign Ministry had sworn that it never closed the door to international assistance, except of course for cash contributions. Rallying to defend his boss, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Hsia quickly told the public that the whole affair is a misunderstanding brought about by a poor choice of words.

What Minister Ou really meant to say, dear Comrades, was that Taiwan staff should refuse foreign rescue teams and equipment “temporarily” until the full extent of the disaster has been evaluated. And besides, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is merely a mouthpiece for the Central Emergency Operation Center, which is responsible for requesting foreign aid. Hsia is worthy of the Squealer Award.

At least Hsia has won the support, ahem, of his boss. Foreign Minister Ou said last week that demerits would certainly be “handed out” (what a poor translation, or is that really how the Chinese translates--demerits handed out like candy, come and get ’em) to any staff responsible for “the oversight” that is a memo from Ou himself. Lovely fellow. But he went further, adding that Deputy Hsia was a great asset to the Ministry whose departure, “if it came to that,” would be very saddening. Well, it came to that. Hsia today (2009 August 19) he handed in his resignation, taking full responsibility for the memo because he was technically “in charge” while his boss Ou was overseas.

Not content to feed on their own within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bureaucrats turned their eyes on other government ministries worthy of “blame.” An unidentified ministry official was quoted today as saying that the National Fire Administration must be responsible for the memo because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “had no authority to ask for (international) assistance because such decisions were under the National Fire Administration’s jurisdiction.”

When the National Fire Administration defended itself by saying it had never consulted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the refusal of international aid, the unidentified Foreign Affairs spokesperson showed claws with a warning that “the ministry had kept records of communications with the National Fire Administration and was fully prepared for a face-off if it came to that.” For those about to die, we salute you.

Hsia’s refusal of foreign aid, offered almost immediately by the United States and Japan, is typical of what I recognized as a Nationalist distaste for a helping hand. Yes, the Chinese are miserably proud, and in another posting perhaps I can talk about my good friend Mr. D’s views on the pride of landlords and Neighborhood Decline.

But here, let me draw on my decades-ago experience as an editor-proofreader whose salary came from the fascist-minded Nationalist Party. Surrounded by bureaucrats every day I quickly recognized the presence of a barely suppressed anti-Americanism, revealed through snide comments and occasional insults from important “ambassadors” (a title that by the mid-80s was becoming increasingly irrelevant as more nation states switched diplomatic recognition to the Red Fascists) and petty bureaucrats.

The most prevalent of these snide insults was the emphasis upon the “youth” of the United States, which was noted as a detriment compared to the great sage-like wisdom of a China over 3,000 years old. These kinds of boasts were made even as China writhed in the blood poured out by the Supreme Red Fascist Mao, and while Taiwan suffocated beneath the weight of gunshot corpses piled up by the mini-Mao in hiding on Illa Formosa.

The mini-Mao was able to maintain his kingdom and oversee the functioning of his murder machine with American dollars. That he needed the greenback to support his survival must have been a blow to his ego. The shame surely seeped into and throughout the bureaucracy, as mini-Mao and Party, and by extension Nation, were one and the same.

And so the constant reminders of bureaucrats high and low, spoken in absolute confidence and strengthened by a dismissive wave of the hand: “You‘re a foreigner; you wouldn’t understand. We are Chinese. We understand.”

Human rights advocate Linda Arrigo later confirmed my observation, noting that the Nationalist attitude was one of pull and push with the United States. The pull is the survival-ensuring acceptance of American money, but the shame of taking in handouts leads to anti-American insults, the push, on the part of the bureaucrats who would like to believe that the money in their coffers and the guns in their hands are the result of their own greatness.

It cannot be overemphasized that Ma the Incompetent has the blood of Chiang the Younger’s bureaucratic machinery on his hands, as he served as Chiang the Younger’s English language secretary for a number of years. He would also have inherited the Pull and Push Mindset. But this time around he allowed the Push to overwhelm the Pull. Why is that?

Simply put, the playing field has changed. No longer is Illa Formosa viewed by the Nationalists as a last stand against the Red Fascists. An odd virus has sickened the Nationalist bureaucracy, causing a shortness of breath that makes it impossible for our serving bureaucrats to utter harsh words against the Red Fascists. The virus also affects the eyesight, plaguing government officials with a shortsightedness that makes it impossible for them to see that the land upon which they stand is not an extension of the Chinese land mass that looms in the distance.

Suggestion that this sickness has infected the Ministry of Foreign Affairs comes from an earlier incident involving a rogue bureaucrat named Kuo Kuan-ying (郭冠英). Under a pseudonym, diplomat Kuo who posted some rather venomous anti-Taiwanese comments on a blog. Examples of what he said include:

a.) “Most people see being a half breed as something to be ashamed of. The Taiwanese are proud of it”

b.) “Martial law was an example of benevolent administration by the government of that time”

c.) “We are high class mainlanders!”

d.) “The big problem with Demon Island (Taiwan) is that we can’t get our logic straight because of idiots”

e.) “After China uses force to (invade) Taiwan, there cannot be any discussion of political liberalization. Taiwan will need to be locked down and purged for many years.”

(Yeah, well, that last one sounds like Jackie Chan, but it’s not.)

Kuo was relieved of his job, losing his pension in the process. When he returned to Taiwan he was surrounded by gangsters whose job it was to protect him from rightfully irate Taiwanese.

What needs stressing is that this man was a longtime civil servant, a member of the bureaucracy from the days of Chiang the Younger, and survived buried deep within an organization that surely would have recognized his anti-Taiwanese tendencies and, given his lack of staying power, chosen not to penalize him. The system is so powerful that fascist Kuo even survived eight years of the Chen Shui-bian Administration.

I note all this as confirmation of my paranoid suspicion (note my words, please: I speak of “paranoia” and “suspicion,” with no proof and here I make no charges, only ponderings of possibilities) that the bureaucracy charged with protecting and caring for the people of Taiwan is actually capable of crushing them like grapes in a wine press through, in the case of Marakot, a lack of attention, a failure of imagination, and a slowness of response.

The problem is not a ghost in the machine, but the ghost of the machine.

The bureaucracy exists to maintain itself, and it must struggle against the haunting whisperings of a ghost that seeks not the oil of bureaucratic efficiency, but the malodorous blood of human sacrifice as fuel and lubricant. The bureaucracy’s slow response to the plight of Taiwan’s southern citizens may have satisfied the spectral ghoul’s craving for the sight, smell and taste of blood.

A more reasoned response to the disaster might suggest that the government’s initial inaction stems from a lack of foresight and imagination on the part of the Powers that Be. (Shades of 9/11 and Katrina, perhaps? Ma the Incompetent refused to acknowledge the comparison last night in his press conference.)

Stated simply, too many of Taiwan’s bureaucratic and political leaders ensconced behind desks at the Executive branch and the central government bureaucracy are unfamiliar with any terrain other than Taipei City and the road to the airport in Taoyuan, which they traverse quite frequently in their effort to exchange personal greetings with Red Fascist officials. Factor in their lack of imagination and common sense, hard won through doing time in a school system created by the mini-Mao Nationalists to discourage individual creativity and critical thinking, and you’ve got a reasonable argument for why the government sent in so few rescue personnel (soldiers) and failed to provide transport for the evacuation of mountainside villages in the days preceding the storm’s arrival.

When Ma the Incompetent looked out from the Taipei City banquet hall windows on August 8, he estimated that the storm was not so bad and lacked the imagination to suspect that the winds and rain might be worse elsewhere on the island.

(In last night’s press conference, Ma the Incompetent blamed the rain for his tardy ordering of rescue operations. As one citizen then taunted in the press: “What kind of government leaves its people in pouring rain for three days before it begins rescue work?” Well, ever heard of Myanmar?)

It is a miserably sad irony that the victims of the storm represent two very serious “political” populations. First, the majority of voters in the storm-flooded south have typically been identified as “pro-Green,” meaning they support the party that stands in opposition to Ma the Incompetent’s Nationalist crew of colonial holdovers.

The storm ruined many produce and livestock farms in the south, potentially bankrupting a good number of pro-democratic, anti-colonial voters. Could this destruction have given at least a few of the pro-Chinese colonizers a sense of satisfaction at nature punching up a long-overdue payback for decades of anti-colonial troublemaking. Somewhere in Taiwan, or more likely in China, sits a satisfied ex-bureaucrat Kuo.

The great irony, of course, is that so many of the south’s younger voters switched camps and cast ballots in support of Ma the Incompetent and his fellow colonial-minded politicians.

By and large, though, the primary victims of the typhoon were Aboriginal people. Here the irony is especially powerful, as the Aborigines have always been supporters of the new colonizers, a support that stems from the influence of generous Nationalist money handouts and a historical dislike of the “Taiwanese” who disenfranchised them centuries before. My enemy’s enemy is my friend.

What the Aboriginal are apparently blind to is the Nationalist colonizer overwhelming dislike of them. In the bloody days of mini-Mao rule the Nationalist goal was to eradicate tribal cultures and traditions. Aborigine languages were disrespected, traditional costumes were illegal, and people could not sing the original words of their folk songs but had to replace them with patriotic drool. And still today the government considers it an easy and harmless thing to do to displace tribal people from their land.

I can’t understand how Aboriginal people can so easily forget Ma’s true colors, which he flew for the Aboriginal public to see in December 10, 2007 as mayor of Taipei City. In a meeting with tribal people who were living illegally on Hsintien Riverside land, Ma made comments such as: “I will treat you like a person … and I will educate you well and provide you with opportunities” and “Aborigines should adjust their mentality.”

In a later apology for the comments that betray his underlying belief that Aborigines are not “persons” and so his treatment of them as persons is something special, Ma offered an apology that wasn’t an apology: “If some people feel unhappy for this reason, I accept to apologize.”

Typhoon Marakot has allowed Ma the Incompetent to once again show his anti-indigenous tendency. Survivors of the typhoon were angered last week when Ma commented to a journalist (in English) that it was the villagers’ responsibility to get out of town when the wind blows.

Ma said that this is the first time in many years that a typhoon has brought such heavy rain (let’s not talk about last year’s typhoon that tore through the south, Mr. Ma), and so the villagers were unprepared. “If they (the villagers) were (aware of the intensity of the storm), they should have been evacuated much earlier.” (Well, Mr. Ma, how could they be aware when the Central Weather Bureau appears to be nothing more than a roomful of monkeys with typewriters?)

Ma the Incompetent then went on to say: “Just because they stayed where they lived . . . but you see, they didn’t realize how serious the disaster was.” Yes, Ma the Incompetent, and Ma the Insensitive. And yet, Aborigines voted for him, and probably will continue to vote Nationalist Blue. I’m flummoxed. Am I blaming the victim? Well, to what degree are we responsible, as voters, for the actions of the public officials we voted for? Are the American voters who cast their ballots for George Bush responsible for the thousands dead in Emperor Bush's Baghdad Adventure? That's definitely a topic worth pursuing. But returning to this present issue...

It is not just Ma the Incompetent who comes across in my view as anti-Aboriginal, an observation I defend with reference to his dismissive rhetoric. Let’s point a finger at the whole Legislature of Ma Wannabes. Back in 2005 the Chen Administration had submitted a proposal for land restoration, calling for things such as the restriction or even removal of illegal mountainside hotels, the replanting of land damaged by betel nut farming, and the refusal to rebuild mountain roads (hey Mr. Ma, what about your plan to build a new road to Hualien, the Environmental Impact Study be damned?).

As usual, the Chen Administration tried to do something good for Taiwan, but the Nationalist-controlled Legislative Branch nixed everything. And now they sit and cry “We will do something about this,” with the horses already out of the barn, excepting the horse’s ass that sits in the farmer’s chair. When will the voters of Taiwan realize that the Nationalist Party is a party dedicated to the colonization of Taiwan? Colonizers don't care about their colonies. Their purpose is to suck the golden teat for as long as they can before pulling up stakes and heading back to the land of their passports: the USA.

The Marakot disaster now gives the government a new opportunity to backhand its aboriginal supporters, this time by refusing to allow survivors to return to their traditional lands. Presumably families would be forced onto lands close to their original tribal territories, or even worse they would be relocated into urban areas. As one Aboriginal storm survivor said: “Forcing us to relocate to the city permanently is no different from killing us” (Taipei Times, 2009 August 19, p. 2).