Legislators from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lambasted the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday over legislation of a statute governing the 2008 Taiwan Expo, saying that a consensus could be reached if the KMT was more cooperative.
Four DPP lawmakers, including Tsai Chi-fang (
Tsai said that the DPP legislators will instigate a protest at the KMT headquarters if the KMT caucus fails to sign up to the consensus before the end of next week.
Discounting the DPP's challenge, Chen Chieh (
A world exposition like the 2008 Taiwan Expo should serve to raise Taiwan's visibility in the international community and help prop up the country's domestic economy, Chen said, adding that the KMT will remain reserved toward it if the party believes the expo is being used merely as a political tool of the ruling DPP aimed at broadening the DPP's support base for the 2008 presidential election.
Chen described the rationale behind the initial plan of the expo as "fishy," as the main sponsor of the expo is registered as a nonprofit organization, a move he claimed is apparently aimed at evading the regulations of the procurement and budget law.
According to officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the 2008 Taiwan Expo slated to be held in Taoyuan, Tainan and Chiayi from May to September 2008 is expected to attract 5.5 million visitors.
The purpose of the national exposition, to be organized by the ministry, is to make the country a world-class technology hub by attracting visitors from home and abroad and to secure the country's international status as a base for supplying technological products worldwide so that the country can attract foreign investment that will allow the nation's economy to develop, the officials said.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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