In his New Year's address yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen reminded the public of China's strong ambition to annex Taiwan, and said that his administration's new mindset and course of action for future cross-strait economic and trade policies would adopt "active management, effective opening," rather than the "active opening, effective management" that has been in place since 2001.
While delivering his speech, which centered on the theme of "Democratic Taiwan: Thriving Onward," Chen apologized for his unsatisfactory past performance and vowed to "keep a firm stance while moving forward pragmatically" on cross-strait issues.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
But Chen's clear signal that he would tighten cross-strait policies was at the heart of his message.
Citing the Chinese People's Liberation Army's deployment of 784 ballistic missiles that are targeting Taiwan, Chen said that China has aggressively expanded its military capability and is augmenting its combat readiness in a three-stage preparation for war against Taiwan.
Chen said that China has set the goals of establishing contingency-response combat capabilities by 2007 and building up combat capabilities for large-scale military engagement by 2010, to ensure victory in a decisive battle by 2015.
"In the so-called `carrot and stick' strategy China has employed against Taiwan, the `soft tactic' is a mere deception, but the `hard tactic' is real," Chen said.
Chen said that the Legislative Yuan's delay of the military procurement budget, the result of filibustering, has seriously impeded the progress of strengthening national defense capabilities and has also prompted the international community to express misgivings about Taiwan's resolve to defend itself.
In addition, Chen said that among his six major reform priorities, one of the most challenging will be the constitutional engineering project.
"I've seen the vigor of the constitutional reform movement in our civil society. I look forward to a civilian-drafted bill for `Taiwan's New Constitution' this year. Should conditions in Taiwanese society become sufficiently mature, who is to say that holding a referendum on the new Constitution by 2007 is impossible?" Chen said.
Chen said that Taiwan's existing cross-strait economic and trade policies have upheld the fundamental principle of "active opening, effective management" in accordance with a consensus reached at the Economic Development Advisory Conference held in 2001.
However, due to the complexities of cross-strait exchange and globalization, Chen said it was time for Taiwan to practically adjust related policies.
"The government must `actively' take on the responsibility of `management' in order to `effectively' reduce the risks of `opening.' The administration will focus on our long-term development, assume the role of a gatekeeper to guard our nation's economic security against foreseeable risks, and resist ingratiation or taking shortcuts," Chen said.
Stressing the importance of upholding "Taiwan consciousness," Chen said that both the governing and opposition parties have to work for the common interest for the sake of national security.
Chen hinted that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
Given China's animosity, Chen said that no matter how cross-strait relations develop, Taiwan will adhere to the four principles of "sovereignty, democracy, peace and parity." With regard to Taiwan's future, no leeway will be given for either the KMT or the Chinese Communist Party to impose a set of choices that precludes democratic freedom or in any way contravenes these four principles, Chen said.
The president also shouldered the blame for the "failings" of some of his party members.
Yesterday afternoon, Premier Frank Hsieh (
Concerning cross-strait policy, Hsieh asked officials not to propose "opening" policies without a plan for effective management.
With regard to the president's concern about officials' integrity, Hsieh said he was considering whether to ask certain officials to have their assets put in trust.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS