Developing a strong economy for sustainable livelihoods is the unavoidable responsibility of a national leader and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should put his money where his mouth is, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday in response to Ma’s National Day speech.
“The biggest wish of Taiwanese on National Day is to enjoy a better standard of living, rather than watching a president talking,” Su said in Lioujiao Township (六腳), Chiayi County.
“Instead of boasting about tomorrow, I would advise the president visit local communities and gain first-hand experience of people’s suffering,” said Su, who turned down an invitation from the Presidential Office to attend the National Day ceremony.
Photo: CNA
The Ma administration has failed to listen to the people’s voice, evidenced by the president’s recent “inflammatory remark” that laziness was why people do not exercise as often as they should.
Tsai, who also skipped the ceremony and visited Nantou County, told reporters the economy is key for Taiwan and that people expect a competent and responsible government to help the country emerge from the economic slump.
Asked to comment on Ma’s speech, Tsai said his pledges were empty and sounded “more like a first-year president than a fifth-year president” because Ma “keeps telling people what he plans to do, rather than what he has achieved.”
The former DPP presidential candidate also offered advice to Ma on her Facebook page.
Quoting former US president Andrew Jackson, who said the greatness of an administration is built upon freedom, abundance and the fearlessness of its people, Tsai said a government which lacks the determination to safeguard freedoms and cannot take care of people’s everyday lives is not qualified to demand the loyalty of its people.
The worsening economic situation, including rising prices, an growing unemployment rate, furloughs and stagnant wages, has affected everyone — young and old — nationwide, Tsai said.
“The government appears to be the culprit of the people’s suffering,” she wrote.
The Ma administration has turned a deaf ear to warnings about the economy from the DPP and academics, Tsai said, adding that Taiwan’s overdependence on the Chinese market and the failure of industries to upgrade had hurt the nation’s global competitiveness.
Ma’s decision to raise electricity and fuel prices was like adding fuel to the fire, as the poor get poorer and the middle-class is struggling like never before, she said.
Tsai said she had expressed hope that Ma would “listen to the voice of the people, and take care of each and every Taiwanese” in her concession speech on the night of the presidential election on Jan. 14, but it is obvious that Ma had not been listening.
“I want to remind you [Ma] again, on National Day, that people are not required to lend unconditional support to the country unless their freedoms and well-being are amply protected,” Tsai said.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
RSS