Taiwanese response to Philippines Typhoon

I have been reading the comments left on Taiwanese news sites about the typhoon in the Philippines, and finding an attitude of mostly often indifference, even mocking the disaster victims. The contrast to the response to the 311 earthquake in Japan could not be starker.

What is wrong with these people? Are they incapable of looking beyond the fishing boat dispute and seeing the enormity of the human tragedy that has occurred?

From Yahoo Taiwan (this is the most extreme as it is apparently unmoderated and completely anonymous):
tw.news.yahoo.com/%E6%B5%B7%E7%8 … 00786.html

死光沒?
Are they all dead yet?

這次我才不要捐款
管他們去死
This time, I don’t want to donate.
They can all go and die

可惡的菲律賓人, 連上帝都要滅了你們!
Vile Filipinos, even God wants to exterminate you

看這則新聞我沒有絲毫的傷心 反而有點開心
Seeing this news, I don’t feel the slightest bit sad, In fact, I am quite happy

沒事報導菲律賓狗干嗎?全部死光光也不關台灣事,
Why are they reporting about these Filipio dogs? What does this have to do with Taiwan?
當然要報導一下這種娛樂性極高的新聞
Of course they should report this extremely entertaining news…

I used to get worked up about message board comments when Yahoo USA had a message board and it was an unmoderated free for all.

The people that comment like that would smile to everyone’s face and never dare say that in public, but when they can hide behind username (super d-bag) they feel they can say whatever they want.

On the other hand there are the trolls…

[quote=“dan2006”]I used to get worked up about message board comments when Yahoo USA had a message board and it was an unmoderated free for all.

The people that comment like that would smile to everyone’s face and never dare say that in public, but when they can hide behind username (super d-bag) they feel they can say whatever they want.

On the other hand there are the trolls…[/quote]

Yeah, but the general reaction on the moderated boards is one of indifference.

Here is an article on relief efforts by Taiwanese NGOs.

appledaily.com.tw/appledaily … 1%E7%81%BD

It’s too bad the Taiwanese public isn’t responding to help its impoverished neighbor the way it did when the tsunami hit Japan in 2011. More people will probably have died because of the typhoon, and the survivors are far more vulnerable. It’s not too surprising given the killing of the fisherman and the way the Philippines is basically invisible in Taiwan.

What are we doing to help?

[quote=“Feiren”]Here is an article on relief efforts by Taiwanese NGOs.

appledaily.com.tw/appledaily … 1%E7%81%BD

It’s too bad the Taiwanese public isn’t responding to help its impoverished neighbor the way it did when the tsunami hit Japan in 2011. More people will probably have died because of the typhoon, and the survivors are far more vulnerable. It’s not too surprising given the killing of the fisherman and the way the Philippines is basically invisible in Taiwan.

What are we doing to help?[/quote]

I think it is sort of funny that everyone here loves Japan, even with their history of killing Chinese people cruelly and the way they took over Taiwan as an occupying force, compared to one fisherman who was killed. I guess one is recent history and the other is past.

Japan is held up to be the highest standard but Filipinos are just treated as work animals. Sad really.

The Japanese did far more for Taiwan than China ever did, and many Taiwanese came to see themselves as Japanese. As with most former colonies, Taiwan has a special relationship with its former colonial ruler.

All that is fine and well, but it would still be great if Taiwan responded generously to the disaster in the Philippines so that the two neighbors could start a new chapter in their relations. I’m not optimistic though.

You are right, the Japanese did do a lot for Taiwan, but at what cost? It is a major case of Stockholm syndrome if you have a special relationship with your iron fisted former ruler.

Anyway, the government at least did the noble thing by offering $200,000 toward the costs. Its just a bit but at least its a noble thing to do.

Not saying this behavior is acceptable, but at the same time many Filipino netizens said similar things when Mr. Hung was shot dead, or when those Hong Kongese tourists were killed during the “rescue.” Perhaps that’s just what many people do when they can hide behind an Internet username.

However, the general attitude of the Filipino government towards tragic events involving those they consider Chinese people seems to be of indifference. That is a very different matter all together. They don’t seem to hold any higher regard for their Austronesian neighbors either. When dealing with tragedies, that attitude can really alienate people from the affected country. Again, that is done by the the Filipino government . Without those government posturing and antics, I don’t think people in Taiwan would care enough to leave those kind of comments. And those who just want to help would still be out in force to do what they can.

Not all.

[quote]Liu Chi-chun, president of the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps (TRMPC), said Monday that his group will provide free medical services Nov. 14-21 in hardest-hit areas of the Philippines.

Liu said volunteers from his group will travel to the storm-battered regions in the central Philippines with assistance from that country’s Rotary Club and Taiwanese businespeople operating there.

TRMPC, one of Taiwan’s best-known medical NGOs, has been offering medical services or emergency humanitarian aid to disadvantaged Filipino citizens annually since 2000, with the exception of 2003 when Taiwan was hit by an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Liu said.
[/quote]

The press might be to blame. Not enough has been presented, mostly because there is little presence on the ground. And the previous record has the press on both side, feeding fires of hatred, not very helpful. The locals are busy with the oil scandal, and other local stuff.

With Japan there is a kind of kindred spirit feeling, admiration for their development, lot less competition than with South Korea. Filipinas is what Taiwan can become if it fails, dark skinned people are looked down, they are thought to owe some kind of awe to Taiwan and instead the Taiwanese are led to believe they do not receive “face” enough. So natural flowing empathy, in spite of this catastrophe of gargantuan proportions, does not come naturally then. Hopefully, wiser minds will prevail and the locals will also respond generously as they are known to be.

Yes it’s better than nothing, but the amount is fairly trifling. Taiwan is the country best suited to help Taiwan due to it’s nearby location and extensive experience in dealing with typhoons and disasters.

I think the recent issues have caused this muted response, which is a pity, because they certainly need help.

[quote=“Icon”]
With Japan there is a kind of kindred spirit feeling, admiration for their development, lot less competition than with South Korea. Filipinas is what Taiwan can become if it fails, dark skinned people are looked down, they are thought to owe some kind of awe to Taiwan and instead the Taiwanese are led to believe they do not receive “face” enough. So natural flowing empathy, in spite of this catastrophe of gargantuan proportions, does not come naturally then. Hopefully, wiser minds will prevail and the locals will also respond generously as they are known to be.[/quote]

Indeed most of the Taiwanese international rescue resources have been scrambled to help as usual. The rescue teams that went to Japan for the 311 are no doubt also in the Philippines if they can get to the location. The army’s transporter plane is in standby to airlift relief material, doctors and rescuers. Organizations such as Tzuchi and others will be there as usual. They were there the last time when Philippines was hit hard (in 2004, four typhoons hit the area one after another), and they will be there again.

I doubt the anti-Philippines talk on Yahoo has anything to do with racism. Yes, racism and discrimination exist in Taiwan, bred by hard line Sino-chauvinists for a couple hundred years, but such discourse didn’t take place in mass the last couple of times Philippines suffered a natural disaster. Most Taiwanese people also didn’t voice such ugly voices when the Southeast Asia tsunami happened. The people affected by those events either were also Filipino, or also a bit tanner or just as tan as most Taiwanese who spends 2 hours in the sun everyday. That’s why I think most of these ugly language is the response to the death of Mr. Hung and the reaction of the Filipino government afterwards, and not the innate racist tendencies of the Taiwanese people.

Another possibility is that those are paid Internet fifth column trolls, trying to stir controversy/problems, and gain from it. Too blatant and too off the treaded path.

There is also the social divide, with Chinese Filipinos fleeing the devastated areas, their stores being looted in the general confusion.

By the way, the Philippine State Department spokesman Raul Hernandez give a list of 21 nations who provided assistance for Haiyan relief.

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

He didn’t mention Taiwan in the list of nations but said in his press release he said

Well, everywhere in the world you are going to find this kind of people. The funny thing is that the crappier the country is, the more common these hatred messages are.

Regarding Japan and Taiwan… I’m not an expert at history, but the Han (and Han mixed) people here, who claim to be the “Taiwanese”, most of them were never under the Japanese government. They fled from the communist China and started to live a “democracy” some time ago. Because of this, and because they are like a lower quality version of Japan (when it comes to business), they are kind of proud of their Japanese heritage. Japanese also left here for them the “very old” streets in Yinnge and similar. And well, the actually lovely hotsprings resorts. So… Japanese were crazy sick fuckers with the Chinese from China Mainland… fighting the same enemy that the ROC was fighting by then. Japanese most likely were fuckin’ in Taiwan when most of the people living here where the so called "aborigines " (let’s call them just Taiwanese :smiley:), but… didn’t the Koumitang do exactly the same when they came over here???

Nevertheless, I know for a fact that some people here do not like Japanese. I have heard that sometimes, when Taiwanese go abroad and behave nasty or have some funny situations, they pretend to be Japanese so they pronounce a few easy phrases in Jap.

[quote=“hansioux”]By the way, the Philippine State Department spokesman Raul Hernandez give a list of 21 nations who provided assistance for Haiyan relief.

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

He didn’t mention Taiwan in the list of nations but said in his press release he said

Well, Philippines considers officially Taiwan as part of China. A couple of years ago some Taiwanese people did something illegal (I think) so Philippines authorities sent them to… yeah, to China xD

63 countries, with most of whom did not have official diplomatic relationship to Taiwan offered or directly assisted Taiwan with donations or other assistance after Typhoon Morakot in 2009. Philippines wasn’t one of them. This has been repeatedly pointed out in the local forums. Frankly speaking , I rather the ROC government donate goods and supplies directly to the refugees, rather than sending money into Filipino government’s bureaucratic black hole.

[quote=“jesus80”]
Well, Philippines considers officially Taiwan as part of China. A couple of years ago some Taiwanese people did something illegal (I think) so Philippines authorities sent them to… yeah, to China xD[/quote]

and it’s that kind of bull the Philippine government pull that incites crazy hate rants on yahoo. not that it makes such rants any less crazy, or any more justified, but the rants aren’t coming from some kind of racist views of Southeast Asians in general.

[quote=“jesus80”]Well, everywhere in the world you are going to find this kind of people. The funny thing is that the crappier the country is, the more common these hatred messages are.

Regarding Japan and Taiwan… I’m not an expert at history, but the Han (and Han mixed) people here, who claim to be the “Taiwanese”, most of them were never under the Japanese government. …

Nevertheless, I know for a fact that some people here do not like Japanese. .[/quote]

You definitively have your history all mixed up -and better clean up the language…

Actually, those Han who came from China are the ones who hate Japan the most, either because they are war veterans themselves -in the ROC army- who fought against the Japanese Imperial Army, or had to flee with their few possessions or have been bombarded with atrocities like Nanking -Google it- and others of that sort.

The feelings on this matter are still strong. For example, last weekend one of my older neighbors was admiring my doggies and telling me how much he missed his family dog, so smart. When he was growing up, the dog guarded the house. Then the war came, and they had to flee. The dog stayed taking care of the property, even when the Japanese burned the house down. He said that very painfully.

You have to try to understand their point of view, too, even as we are aware that Taiwanese who were here before 1949 did not have an easy time afterwards. Imagine like the Russian taking over Berlin. The Chinese came and saw people speaking Japanese and dressing Japanese, looking Japanese… the result was animosity of both sides that has been slowly resolved over time. But it was quite a breach to cross.

BTW, all Japanese citizens were deported from Taiwan at the end of WWII. There were few Taiwanese in Japanese army, even aboriginals -and not so voluntarily, one suspects. And try to read on warlords in China.

The Taiwanese have a much better image of the Japanese, because of the infrastructure, advances in medicine and education, etc. even when they were a colony, second class citizens. Because then those educated people had to go into hiding, or medicine, were persecuted. That is also a painful scar.

If you thought history here was simple or far, heck no way. Different groups, different ethnicities, all trying to live together and reach a common livelihood goal. You need to talk more to the locals to understand the different points of view and why are they so.

By no means I think that the history of Taiwan is easy. It’s rather complex and I’m aware of it. Perhaps what happens is that I totally forgot that actually the ROC fled AFTER the WWII, which is an important detail xD. Nevertheless, new generations have lived a different scenario: they are that Democratic Independent Country, that has nothing to do with those dirty communist who they fought, and they do want to be like Japan (look at their trends, look at the business, etc).

I have already being told about Japan and China by locals, enough for knowing what they don’t give a shit about what Japan did here. They do not like China. They do not like Korea. And they have the best food in the world :smiley:

I barely know where to begin, so I’ll just hit two or three highlights.

[quote]Ethnic groups:

[color=#000080]Taiwanese (including Hakka) 84%[/color], mainland Chinese 14%, indigenous 2%[/quote]–CIA