Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday defended the government's record on the economy as opposition lawmakers criticized the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration for slowing economic development.
"We have been driving backwards instead of moving forward over the past seven years," Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Teh-fu (林德福) said during a question-and-answer session at the legislature yesterday morning.
Lin said that a majority of Taiwanese were now poorer than their South Korean counterparts because of inflation and the government's failure to boost the economy over the last seven years.
"I don't think that is accurate," Chang said. "The average annual economic growth rate has been steady at around 4 percent over the past few years. Criticizing the government as slowing down the nation's economic development is not fair at all."
Chang said that the government had worked hard to save on expenditures to bring down its annual budget.
Meanwhile, Minister of the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics Hsu Jan-yau (許璋瑤) said Taiwanese and South Koreans' income should not be compared by looking at absolute numbers alone.
"Their [South Korea's] currency exchange rate went up 25 percent over the past few years while ours remained steady. As a result, Taiwanese actually pocketed more than their South Korean counterparts," Hsu said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS