President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the remarks at a New Year's gathering of Presidential Office staff on the first working day after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Saying that providing a better life for the people is the top goal of his administration for this year, as he promised in his Jan. 1 New Year's Day speech, Chen said he has confidence in realizing this mission.
PHOTO: CNA
Chen said he met with 20-plus top officials of ministries and government agencies to exchange views on major policy issues and the work agenda for the new year.
"The executive branch has a consensus on the direction we will take in the future," Chen said, adding that the government will prioritize economic development,
introduce comprehensive reforms, eradicate "black gold" politics and organized crime, accelerate educational reforms, promote tourism and attract investment.
Chen said he thinks that the international situation and relations across the Taiwan Strait will witness steady development.
"Of course, some uncertainties still lurk on both fronts. We are keeping close watch on developments and will cope with all possible changes with care and prudence," Chen said.
"Whatever changes or challenges there will be, we should not lose faith and confidence in our nation. With confidence and unity, we'll be able to overcome any difficulty and accomplish our goal," he added.
Noting that the start of a new year offers both new opportunities and new challenges, Chen said all members of the ruling team must work hard to boost national development and upgrade the nation's overall competitiveness in the global market.
With brisk exports in recent months, Chen said, the economy has gradually regained momentum. He said the government has also come up with a NT$50 billion project to expand public construction.
Once the project is approved by the Legislative Yuan, Chen said, the domestic demand will increase to help create new jobs and lower the jobless rate. The project is also expected to help stimulate private investment to further speed up domestic economic recovery, he added.
In contrast to Chen's upbeat mood, Vice President Annette Lu (
"The Year of the Goat may be eventful," Lu said at the party. "It will be full of challenges and turbulence. It may be a crunch time for either peace or war. It may be a time for a showdown between righteousness and evil."
Earlier, Chen presided over a swearing-in ceremony for newly appointed Secretary-General to the President Chiou I-jen (
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS