in his New Year's address yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) vowed to protect the sovereignty and dignity of the Republic of China (ROC) during the course of improving business relations with Beijing.
Ma said that it should be the common objective of the governing and opposition parties to protect peace in the Taiwan Strait and lead the way in developing sound cross-strait relations.
Saying the government valued public oversight, Ma said he would never ignore the voice of the people and all parties and would continue to communicate the government's policies and goals with them to promote national development.
In the address, which focused more on the economy than on cross-strait relations, Ma urged the opposition parties to help salvage the nation's economy. The president also asked companies to refrain from cutting jobs as the domestic economy likely slipped into a recession in the last quarter.
“As people are a company's greatest assets, I am calling on employers to try to avoid layoffs as much as possible,” Ma said.
The government will soon introduce a special budget for spending on public infrastructure and transportation and land conservation projects that will improve the quality of life and the business environment, Ma said.
He also urged civil servants to walk out of their offices and get in touch with the public to be able to help them find solutions to their problems.
He also encouraged them to be flexible and bear public interest in mind, adding that he hoped every civil servant would be as compassionate as Kuanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion.
Ma vowed to push the amendments to the Organic Act of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法) to build a leaner, more adaptable and effective government. Establishing a government that is administratively neutral is also high on the agenda, he said.
As both sides of the Strait develop closer ties, Ma said it was an opportunity and challenge for Taiwan.
Taiwan must not only upgrade its status in the world economy, but also protect the sovereignty of the ROC and Taiwan's dignity as both sides develop closer business ties, he said.
Taiwan must effectively display its political, social and cultural strengths, so it can play a leading role in the long-term development of cross-strait relations, he added.
While urging companies to take advantage of the warming ties with China, Ma said Taiwan must boost domestic consumption and not rely solely on improving cross-strait relations.
In addition to overcoming the economic challenges, Ma said it was equally important to upgrade the country's international competitiveness and that the cultivation of talent was key. For a country with limited resources, human resources are a valuable asset and the foundation of national competitiveness in a knowledge-based era, he said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾), yesterday lauded Ma's New Year's address for touching on topics such as “Taiwan's democracy, tolerance and open-mindedness.”
KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) called the address “pragmatic, useful and not too fancy,” as it focused on how to boost the economy and public confidence.
Prior to the speech, Ma and other government officials attended an early morning flag-raising ceremony to welcome the new year.
Despite the cold weather, the event attracted about 40,000 people to the square in front of the Presidential Office.
About 20 students from the Wild Strawberry Student Movement, however, criticized the administration for stopping them from participating in the ceremony wearing masks of Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.
The students originally planned to put on Chen masks and hold up placards that read “Human Rights and Dignity,” when the master of ceremonies led participants in chanting “Long Live the Republic of China” during the flag-raising.
They said the plan was meant to highlight the government's move to stop activists from displaying the national flag during Chen's visit.
But they were prevented by police officers from the Zhongzheng First Precinct from entering Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office.
Police stopped the students on the grounds that they had not obtained a permit for their rally in accordance with the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法).
The student movement has been demanding an immediate amendment to the Act since Chen's visit in early November, saying it violates the public's constitutional rights to freedom of assembly.
“They [the authorities] are even afraid of several pieces of paper [Chen masks],” said Hsieh Sheng-yu (謝昇佑), a spokesman for the movement.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY BLOOMBERG
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique