Premier urges restraint

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday made his first report to the legislature on the Cabinet's policies, urging all political parties to cooperate with the new government in the national interest instead of engaging in confrontation.

"Just like two hedgehogs trying to keep warm in the winter, the moment they draw closer, they hurt each other.

"When they adjust themselves and get used to the space between them, they can get through the winter together," Chang told legislators, adding that former premier Tang Fei's (唐飛) policies were "irreplaceable."

In his policy report, Chang said that the Cabinet had planned a new four-year project for the years 2001 to 2004 for national construction (新世紀國家建設第一期四年計畫) and a long-term project for the years 2001 to 2011.

The Cabinet's goal is to develop the knowledge-based economy (知識經濟) and to build Taiwan into a green silicon island (綠色矽島), he said.

Chang said that he had asked the appropriate government agencies to come up with concrete measures within three months in order to carry out the "knowledge-based economic project (知識經濟發展方案)," which is the Cabinet's blueprint for all national policies.

In response to Chang's policy report, however, opposition parties yesterday expressed disappointment, saying "nothing innovative or substantial" had been said. Even the ruling DPP's legislative whip Hsu Tien-tsai (許添財) said, "It will be very difficult to fully implement Chang's proposals in four years."

Hsu said that in his opinion, "The Cabinet is headed in the right direction for Taiwan to improve its economic prospects for the next 50 years."

Hsu, therefore, urged the Cabinet to undertake institutional reforms as soon as possible, so that bureaucratic obstacles to the implementation of the Cabinet's policies could be removed.

"The stock market's decline is related to the government's stance on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and cross-strait relations, but Chang brushed aside all those concerns by proposing vague policies," argued KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) at the same press conference.

KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) even accused Chang of copying former KMT premier Vincent Siew's (蕭萬長) policy report.

The People First Party echoed the view of the KMT's legislative caucus.

"Chang's policy report is only a revision of former premier Tang's. Also, his metaphor of hedgehogs to describe the interaction between political parties is a bad one," said PFP spokeswoman Diane Lee (李慶安) at a press conference.

She added that Chang should have proposed more concrete measures for the implementation of economic policy to win back people's confidence in the new government.

The New Party's legislative whip, Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) criticized Chang's report as "cliched" and "outdated in terms of economic and financial policies."

"The Banking Law (銀行法) had been passed in the legislature, but still the premier stated in his report that he would push forward the passage of the law, which I think did not reflect the new condition," Lai added.

The NP, however, approved of the Cabinet placing the highest priority on political stability and economic development.