Dec. 1 elections: Opposition lambasts DPP for failing to prepare for WTO

The KMT and PFP yesterday criticized the government for failing to prepare properly for the impact on local businesses after Taiwan's admission into the WTO.

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) cited official statistics showing an estimated 100,000 farmers may lose their jobs after WTO entry, which will worsen the already severe employment problem.

"But the DPP government has evaded its responsibility [regarding this problem] since it took power last year, leaving this urgent matter uncared for," Lien said during a KMT campaign rally in Kinmen.

Lien said the former KMT government began the bid to join the WTO, formerly known as GATT (The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), almost 12 years ago and it completed signing all the documents required when it was still in power.

Taiwan's admission was delayed until today because it was improperly linked with China's admission, Lien noted.

To cope with the impact of WTO membership, Lien said, the KMT government had planned an NT$100 billion fund to help domestic industries upgrade to a higher level, improve their competitiveness and deal with the possible unemployment problem.

While the KMT government earmarked a total of NT$30 billion for the fund from its annual budgets, the DPP did not continue to budget money for the fund after it took power, Lien said.

The DPP not only has failed to prepare properly for WTO membership, it has caused Taiwan's investment growth to plummet from the original 18.9 percent to the present ?24 percent, he said.

While government debts and the unemployment rate are climbing, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is actively campaigning for Dec. 1 elections, instead of putting forth resolutions to the problems, he added.

"Switching on the television, what we see is our president in news reports, exclusive interviews, advertisements and even live broadcasts, as if we are conducting a presidential race. Nobody knows what's going on," Lien said.

People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) had similar complaints yesterday, saying Chen has accomplished nothing, with the exception of doing a lot of complaining, over the past 500 days while in office.

"If he had the will, a lot of things could have been accomplished in 500 days," Soong said as he campaigned for PFP legislative candidate Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) in Taipei County.

Soong said that he had finished touring all 309 rural and urban townships in less than 500 days when he was governor of Taiwan Province.

Since there will still be a five-year buffer period after Taiwan's entry into WTO, Soong urged the government to make good use of the time to finish all preparatory work.

Soong said the people are the ones who should complain, especially because the government has missed the opportunity to negotiate with China on matters concerning the opening of direct cross-strait shipping.

"In the past, China wanted to negotiate with us but we cold-shouldered it. Now the overall international and economic scenes have changed," Soong said.

He was referring to Chen's recent proposal that Taiwan and China negotiate on the issue of direct cross-strait shipping under the WTO framework.