The legislative caucus of the People First party (PFP) urged the ruling and opposition parties to renounce what it described as the "Taiwan-style Cultural Revolution" and devote themselves to developing the economy.
PFP Legislator Lee Hung-chun (
"While China was engaged in its Cultural Revolution, Taiwan was focused on developing its economy. Now China is focusing on developing its economy, while Taiwan is engaged in a cultural revolution," he said.
Democratic drawbacks
According to Lee, excessive populism and election liberalization had restricted the power of authorities and many good policies could be implemented because of election considerations.
"This is something to which politicians in and outside of the government, in the ruling party and in the opposition, should give serious thought," he added.
Lee said a key to the nation's continued economic development was cross-strait relations, whose smooth development relied on "dialogue between the top leaders on both sides of the Strait."
Now that China has said it is willing to talk with Taiwan on an equal footing, Taiwan has no reason to turn down the offer, he said, adding the government should "give up its ideology" and seek to talk with China as soon as possible.
"As long as the dialogue does not hurt Taiwan's interests and national dignity, it should be held as soon as possible," he said. "What is important is to come to a conclusion that will create a win-win situation for both sides."
A media report quoted Lin Yifu (
China catching up
According to Lin, if the economy remained stagnant, the coastal provinces of China would catch up to Taiwan in about 10 years, and when Taiwan loses its economic advantages, "it will lose everything."
Lee said the top leaders in Taipei and Beijing must talk, because only when a mutually acceptable conclusion was reached would Taiwan's economy gain a new push for further growth.
He suggested that Japan or the US could be invited to mediate a resolution to political differences between Taiwan and China.
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