Saying that participation in the WTO had brought Taiwan to the global market, President Chen Shui-bian (
"Taiwan is an island, however it cannot remain insular. It needs to embrace a new mindset in this era of globalization," Chen said.
"Joining the WTO is a global trend. Taiwan's participation in the WTO opens it to the world market, as well as opening the whole world's market to Taiwan," the president added.
PHOTO: CHEN TSEH-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
He called on the nation's farmers to have confidence in their products, saying that "so long as Taiwan's produce guarantee quality, we are not afraid of competition."
The president made the remarks yesterday after viewing the documentary Let it Be (
The film, which won the Image-Taiwan Award at the Fourth Taiwan International Documentary Festival last year, depicted the labor of farmers tending their crops against the backdrop of an unpredictable Mother Nature.
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), Council of Agriculture Chairman Lee Chin-lung (李金龍) and farmers who were featured in the documentary were invited by the president to join him at the viewing yesterday.
The president cited statistics to counter claims often made by opposition parties of the potential for big profits for farmers from fruit exports to China.
Chen said that Taiwanese mangos exported to Japan could be sold for US$4 per kilogram, while those sent to China sold for US$0.70 per kilogram.
"Japan, Singapore and the US are all very good markets [for Taiwan's produce]," Chen said.
According to Chen, the export value of Taiwan's agricultural produce reached US$3.5 billion last year.
New produce this year will be rice and papaya, which have passed the appropriate tests and can now be exported to Japan, he said.
The president praised the farmers' hard work and devotion in caring for the crops and the land.
"Taiwanese farmers' deep love for this land is the same as the love that generations in Taiwan harbor toward the land," he added.
Chen said that he was willing to listen to the views of the farmers and encouraged them to speak their minds.
He added that the government, in recognition of the contribution the farmers have made to the country, in 2003 raised farmers' pensions from NT$3,000 per month to NT$4,000 per month.
Lu also spoke to the audience, and said she had been touched by the documentary.
"Those who complain about their meals should apologize" in view of the strenuous work by the farmers in minding their crops, she said.
"I suggest this documentary be sent to Taiwan's No.1 tycoon so he can watch it, for his words have truly hurt people's feelings," she added.
Lu did not name who she was speaking about, but she appeared to be referring to comments made on Tuesday by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), who strongly criticized the government's plan to levy a minimum tax on high-income earners.
"There is much unfairness in society, there needs to be more justice," she said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods