Newsmakers: Chang raises ire of pan-blue camp

Chang Jin-sheng (張景森), vice chairman of the Cabinet's Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), raised eyebrows on Thursday when the KMT and PFP legislative caucuses declared him persona non grata.

Angry at what they called his arrogance over the Cabinet's job creation project, the opposition caucuses said he is not welcome in the legislature.

They also vowed to shut down all future cross-party talks with the Cabinet unless Lin Hsin-i (林信義), vice premier and chairman of the CEPD, replaces Chang as the government representative in cross-party negotiations.

Chang had reportedly told the media on Thursday that the opposition parties would be the ones to blame for weakening the economy.

He was quoted as saying that the opposition parties should shoulder the responsibility for causing economic growth to drop by 0.38 percent should they fail to pass the NT$50 billion budget for a public construction program this legislative session.

Although the drama ended after Chang said he had not accused the opposition parties of boycotting the bill, he has constantly found himself between his ideals and reality.

One of the immediate examples is the Ministry of Economic Affairs' proposal to build an exhibition hall in Nankang, Taipei City.

Claiming that it is uneconomical to use most of the nation's resources to develop the capital city, Chang has called for changing the site from Taipei City to somewhere else such as Taoyuan County or Taipei County.

His opinion, however, met with opposition from Lin, who said that the government's plan to build the exhibition hall in Nankang, Taipei City, remains unchanged.

The controversy broke out last month when Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and several opposition lawmakers lashed out at the council for rejecting -- for a second time -- the ministry's proposal to build the exhibition center in Taipei City.

The ministry had originally planned to use government funding to build a three-in-one complex -- an exhibition hall, a hotel and a shopping mall -- in the economic and trade park in Nankang.

The ministry has spent almost NT$10 billion on preparations for construction of the center, including NT$9.3 billion on the acquisition of land.

The council will decide in one month the final location for the facility and whether the government will build the project on its own or seek private investors to jointly accomplish the task.

Another example is the Cab-inet's plan to allow the private sector to build and manage national freeways.

Chang had reportedly bypassed his supervisors, Lin and Premier Yu Shyi-kun, and sold the idea directly to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Caught off guard while inspecting infrastructure in Hualien County last April, Yu was forced to make the announcement that the Cabinet is considering the possibility of allowing the private sector to build and manage national freeways in the future.

Yu claimed that he had discussed the matter with the president and Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) and that both of them expressed their support for the idea.

The relationship between Chang and Chen runs deep.

Chang, who has a doctorate in urban building and planning from National Taiwan University, was recruited by Chen to head the urban development bureau when Chen was Taipei City mayor.