Addressing the leadership of the new government, Vice President-elect Annette Lu (
Around 80 members of the new administration yesterday attended a camp on Taipei's Yangmingshan.
"We have to loudly and resolutely make it known to the whole world that the People's Republic of China has never reigned nor ruled Taiwan. Most people in Taiwan not only disagree with unification, but actually fear unification," Lu said.
She also said the new government was native-born and should create a way of thinking that captured the spirit of an "Ocean State" (
Mainland Affairs Council Chairperson-designate Tsai Ying-wen (
"Peaceful interactions between the two sides are important, but our fundamental stand that the ROC is an independent country cannot be discounted," Tsai said.
However, she said that the idea of an "Ocean State" is a philosophic one and with concrete mainland policy "there is distance in between."
Annette Lu also said that while most people do not want drastic change, they are on the other hand weary of a perfunctory and conservative government. She called on the new government to speed up reforms.
She criticized the outgoing KMT regime of being corrupt and of alienating itself from the people of Taiwan.
However, many members in the new Cabinet -- some of whom are KMT party members -- looked embarrassed when listening to her comments.
"We hope that our officials do not discuss business and make under-the-table dealings around a small white ball," Lu said, referring to the prevalence of political deals worked out by many politicians -- including President Lee Teng-hui (
She said that herself and President-elect Chen Shui-bian (
"These are mere trivialities. But if we drink less and don't smoke, isn't it also a kind of governmental renovation?" Lu said.
DPP Chairman Lin I-hsiung (
However, Lin poked fun at Lu's comments saying, if incoming DPP officials "didn't drink, smoke or play mahjong to make friends with locals, the DPP could lose the next election."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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