Critics are divided over the Cab-inet's NT$2.6 trillion, six-year national-development project to turn Taiwan into a "green silicon island" -- a nation devoted to clean high-tech industries.
Some say the project is aimed at winning support for the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration ahead of the 2004 presidential election. Others simply argue that the project is aimed at making Taiwan a better place.
"Its purpose is clearly to win the 2004 presidential contest, because the Chen administration has to show the public that it's determined to do something to deserve another four years in power," said Norman Yin (
Chiang Ping-kun (江丙坤), legislative vice speaker and former chairman of the Cabinet's Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) under the KMT, expressed the same opinion.
"It's obvious that the introduction of the six-year project serves the purpose [of winning the presidential contest]," he said.
"While Beijing will play host to the Olympic Games in 2008, the DPP-led government has to show to both the world and its people that Taiwan, too, has a promising blueprint to look forward to and that the island deserves some media attention in the international arena."
But the DPP's Chen Po-chih (
"The six-year national project is definitely not designed to win the presidential election just two years away," Chen said.
"The idea of building a `green silicon island' had already been proposed when I chaired the CEPD. As we decided the ultimate goal of the project, the rest of plan kind of fell into place."
After 76 rounds of discussion and revision, the Cabinet finally approved the project on Wednesday.
The government hopes to create 700,000 new jobs, decrease unemployment from 5 percent today to 4 percent, boost GDP growth to 5 percent annually from 2.3 percent this year and devote up to 3 percent of Taiwan's GDP to research and development.
In addition, the Cabinet hopes the project will help develop at least 15 products or technologies that will rank among the world's best, double the current number of foreign tourists from 1 million to between 2 million and 5 million and increase the household use of broadband Internet services to 6 million homes.
To ensure the full implementation of the project, Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (
Hu Sheng-cheng (
Chen Chi-nan (陳其南) will oversee the talent cultivation plan, the creative industry development plan and the community construction plan.
Lin Sheng-feng (林盛豐) will take charge of plans to increase the number of tourists and the water and green construction plans.
Tsai Ching-yen (
Criticizing the six-year project as "nothing new," Yin said it is nothing but a "larger-scale version of the NT$810 billion public-construction project."
The project was introduced by former premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
"I don't see many innovative ideas in the project because most of it continues the NT$810 billion public-construction project, which didn't boost Taiwan's economy but instead" exacerbated the problem, Yin said.
Although some plans included in the six-year project, such as the talent-cultivation plan and the creative industry development plan, are considered to be new, Yin said they won't do much good to spur the nation's economy.
"As the government is already suffering from financial difficulties, it should spend its money more carefully in areas that can swiftly and directly boost the local economy," he said. "I don't see that big investment in cultural and humanity industries swiftly boosting the economy."
Although Yu pledged to implement the project to the full, Yin said he is skeptical.
"Who knows whether the DPP will still remain in power and Yu will still be the premier after the 2004 presidential election?" Yin said.
Chen, however, said that although it is possible that the DPP will lose power in the future, a good national development project should be mapped out from a long-term perspective.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS