President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pledged yesterday to work through the economic crisis and open up Taiwan’s market to more foreign investment, promising to address public concerns by presenting solid solutions to stagnant salaries and high unemployment.
In his National Day address titled “Forging Ahead Together with Composure in the Face of Adversity,” Ma sought to tackle economic issues and said his administration would focus its efforts on boosting the development of service industries, raising salaries and eliminating investment barriers to create more job opportunities.
“To bolster of national security and Taiwan’s interests, we will relax regulations on foreign investments to create a friendlier and more convenient investment environment. In the future, liberalization will become the norm and barriers the exception,” Ma said at a National Day ceremony in front of the Presidential Office.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
Ma said relaxing regulations on foreign investment would create a better investment environment and more jobs, and he promised that the government would strike a balance between labor rights and foreign investment.
“Although Taiwan’s economy has grown over the past years, many people have seen their salary remain stagnant and are not happy about that. To resolve this difficult situation, our industries must move toward higher value-added development,” he said.
Amid growing concerns about a low average salary and high unemployment rate, the president said that to make a breakthrough, the nation must restructure its industries and become a major provider of precision instruments, while strengthening the development of service industries.
Photo: Mandy Cheng, AFP
On cross-strait relations, Ma said the government would continue to push cross-strait development forward on the basis of the [so-called] “1992 consensus,” whereby each side acknowledges the existence of “one China,” but maintains its own interpretation of what that means.
As the two sides of the Taiwan Strait continue cross-strait negotiations following the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, the government plans to review and revise the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and set up offices on each side of the Strait to serve the needs of businesspeople, students and the general public, he said.
In his address, the president also reiterated the nation’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) and renewed his call for all parties to resolve the dispute peacefully.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
The official celebration of National Day was held in a relatively low-key fashion, with the organizers cutting down the scale of the performances in front of the Presidential Office, while the crowds were thin.
The ceremony began with a 15-minute show by more than 400 members of the Ministry of National Defense Honor Guard and the Joint Military Marching Band, winning rounds of applause for their demonstration of rifle-twirling skills and drumming.
The performance ended with the servicemen forming the figure 101 in honor of the nation’s anniversary.
Photo: CNA
Ma and Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) met with foreign guests inside the Presidential Office before attending the ceremony.
First lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青), who had drawn criticism when she wore the same dress to the two previous National Day ceremonies, accompanied Ma in a new dress with floral prints in black and white.
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS