Premier Frank Hsieh (
"To raise utility prices is not that simple. It requires expert evaluation and the legislature's final approval, so it will definitely take a while," the premier said.
"There is no need to panic but I would sincerely urge the public to help conserve more electric power and water anyway," he said.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
The premier made his remarks during the opening speech of the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday morning.
He said that there are three concerns for the government to consider when it came to raising utility prices.
"First of all, the market mechanism is the most important thing; secondly, [we must adhere to] the government's economic policies; finally [we must adhere to] the government's energy policies," the premier said.
In the meantime, Hsieh also said that the proposal to raise utility prices was meant to encourage the public to conserve as many resources as possible.
"If the prices remain unchanged, people will not learn the lesson that our resources will not always be available. In addition, if people do not consume that much, we will not have to come up with other solutions, such as establishing more nuclear power plants, to solve the problem of power shortages," Hsieh said.
As for gas prices, the premier said that the government would not take action at the moment. He would not say whether gas prices would go up in the near future.
Yesterday was also Hsieh's first time to not wear his jacket and tie to work. Instead, he put on grey "island wear" to meet the press and his fellow Cabinet members.
"Island wear" shirts are popular and are regarded as formal wear for men in Southeast Asia and many South Pacific countries.
"Wearing `island wear' is cool and convenient, and will help conserve power since we do not have to rely on air conditioning so much," Hsieh said.
The idea of men wearing less formal attire to work originated in Japan, which has introduced a casual dress code so that office air conditioners can be turned down to save electricity and help the country reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Under the measure, air-conditioners must be set at 28?C. Men will not have to wear a suit and tie between June 1 and Sept. 30, so that more air-conditioners can be turned down, or off.
The idea was first mentioned here to Cabinet Spokesman Cho Jung-tai (
Cho acknowledged the idea, and said that he would report it to Hsieh.
"I like this. It is comfortable. But the blemish is that the shirt does not have enough pockets for me, so I cannot carry as many items as I did in my suit and tie," Hsieh said.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS