President Chen Shui-bian (
"Experiencing this trip confirms that the whole eastern coast of Taiwan is a national treasure, which has the best potential for developing international trade as well as tourism businesses," Chen said when his boat arrived in Hualien.
"Moreover, Hualien County will be the government's choice to establish Taiwan's first free trade zone, which would realize the late county commissioner Chang Fu-hsin's (
PHOTO: LEE CHEN-HUA, TAIPEI TIMES
Accompanied by Deputy Secretary-General to the President Chen Che-nan (
Chen said he had visited Hualien a few weeks earlier to mark the completion of the electrification of the North Link railway line between Hualien and Keelung, and he was now back again to open the "blue highway," both of which were projects carried out to boost the economy of the eastern part of the island.
The president said Hualien is one of five international harbors in the country to be designated as free trade harbors in terms of the Free Trade Harbor Zone Statute enacted by the Legislative Yuan last week.
Furthermore, the construction of a Hualien-Ilan freeway will begin later this year, which, coupled with the expansion of Hualien Airport, will transform Hualien into an international city, Chen said.
Recounting that his eyes feasted on the beautiful scenery along the eastern coastline of Taiwan during his one-and-a-half-hour voyage from Ilan to Hualien, Chen urged his compatriots to love their beautiful country.
After the ceremony, Chen also attended campaign activities to promote You Ying-lung (
Meanwhile, Chen's opponents in the upcoming presidential election, KMT chairman Lien Chan (
Lien and Soong will tomorrow lead their supporters in campaigning for the KMT-PFP alliance's nominee, Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山).
Though the KMT enjoyed firm support in the county during the past decades, Hsieh is now facing severe pressure because the traditional KMT support base has been split due to former commissioner Wu Kuo-tung (
Lien and Soong yesterday refused to comment on whether they will privately meet Wu to try to persuade him to withdraw from the election. A few KMT grassroots leaders said they would try anything to have Wu withdraw from the election.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard