The nation’s recent economic situation was not triggered entirely by global factors but also in part by policy decisions of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
“Besides global factors such as the surge in oil and raw material prices in the international market, the KMT government must face up to a couple of internal factors,” Tsai said in a statement yesterday.
Tsai criticized the government for failing to put itself in the public’s shoes, considering the opening of cross-strait exchanges as a cure-all and being inconsistent in handling some issues, leading to a public loss of confidence in the government’s competence.
“As a previous ruling party, [the DPP] sympathizes with a government facing severe challenges caused by exterior factors, as Taiwan is not isolated from the international situation, but some internal factors needed to be addressed,” Tsai said.
She said the government’s economic policies reflected increasing costs and disregarded the consequences to the public.
“It gave advance notice of the oil price hike, leading to hoarding and unrest; it failed to contain commodity prices, resulting in inflation pressure; its economic proposal to expand domestic demand benefits only businesses; and farmers have suffered because it gave free rein to rising fertilizer prices,” Tsai said.
Tsai said the KMT government also made a mistake in regarding the opening of cross-strait exchanges as a panacea to all economic ills.
“That is a dangerous way of thinking. It’s not because that the DPP opposes loosening regulations on cross-strait exchanges, but the KMT has been overly optimistic about the economic benefits Chinese tourists and weekend charter flights might bring,” she said.
She said people who have inflated expectations would end up being disappointed and the nation would pay a higher price for potential “security loopholes” in national defense, public order and epidemic prevention and quarantine that might be caused by the policies. The government faces a predicament in which departments fail to coordinate among themselves to tackle problems, she said.
“The Mainland Affairs Council and the Strait Exchange Foundation have been at odds with each other over cross-strait issues,” Tsai said.
“And on economic issues, the government on one hand tried to expand domestic demand and took money from the four government-run funds on the stock market, yet on the other hand, the central bank raised its key interest rates to tighten currency.”
The lack of coordination between governmental agencies showed a lack of leadership, she said, adding that “all of this makes it hard to believe that the government is capable of handling the current situation.”
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS