The crushing defeat of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the just-concluded local elections generated discussions within the party of its China policy.
While some DPP legislators suggested that the government speed up relaxation of the restrictions on cross-strait economic relations, some said that Taiwan should diversify its economic relations with other countries to guard against over-reliance on China's market.
Legislator Kuo Julian-liang(郭正亮) said that the government should expedite negotiations and implementation of direct links.
"Although the opening of direct links has created dispute within the party, President Chen Shui-bian (
Legislator Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻), one of the DPP's legislative caucus whips, said that the opening of direct links should be regarded as a priority government policy because of its importance in saving on trading and transportation costs.
"The government should set aside the political ideology which intentionally separated the economic ties between Taiwan and China," he said, adding that the electoral result proved that most people are not in favor of this ideology.
Since the DPP came into power, the government has switched its cross-strait economic policy from "don't hurry, be patient" to "active opening with effective administration under the principle of global deployment" by loosening some economic restrictions on China.
Chen said that the Chinese market should be considered as part of the global market rather than be excluded from the strategy of global deployment.
"As long as the government can establish an effective administrative mechanism and improve the domestic investment environment, normalizing the cross-strait economic relations is helpful for Taiwanese businesspeople who want to keep their roots in Taiwan," Chen said.
Meanwhile, some DPP legislators took a more cautious attitude towards easing up on restrictions.
DPP Legislator Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) reminded the government of over-investment in China, suggesting that Taiwan should try hard to enhance its economic ties with other Asian countries to improve the current unbalanced state of affairs.
Tsai said that Taiwan should not consume more time in arguing over whether to relax or tighten cross-strait policy, given the over-dependent economic relation the nation has with China.
As Asian economies play an important role in the global economy and Taiwan is in a good position to create a complementary relationship with other East Asian countries, Taiwan should positively cooperate with those countries, she said.
Commenting on Taiwan's over-dependence on the Chinese market, DPP Legislator Wang To-far (
The recent economic tallies -- Taiwan's export dependency on China is above 33 percent and Taiwan's investment in China accounts for 66 percent of total investment -- prove that Taiwan should slow down and not speed up its pace in the Chinese market, Wang said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it