Thu, Aug 28, 2008 page3

• Cabinet touts efforts in report on first three months

  • By Flora Wang / STAFF REPORTER
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  Faced with low approval ratings, the Cabinet yesterday published a report on the Government Information Office Web site detailing the administration’s work over the past three months.

  The report, titled Moving toward the Public’s Expectations, explained the government’s efforts to implement clean politics, cross-strait peace, a stronger economy, national security, stable commodity prices, lower energy consumption, social justice and local development.

  The report sought to distinguish the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) from the previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, saying the new government had focused on reviving the economy, while the DPP had only sought political gain for the party during its eight years in power.

  

  President Ma Ying-jeou, left, talks with Buddhist master Jing Sin yesterday at a ceremony marking the completion of the renovation of the main hall at the Huguo Chan Buddhist Temple of the Linji School in Taipei. A survey conducted by the Chinese-language United Daily News found an increase in Ma’s approval ratings.

  PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES

  The new administration has sought to improve the economy by relaxing 44 regulations to allow direct currency exchange between the yuan and the NT dollar in Taiwan, allow more Chinese tourists into the country and other changes, the report said.

  The Cabinet’s efforts have yielded results, the report said, citing Hon Hai Group’s (鴻海集團) decision to increase its investment in Kaohsiung as one example.

  The Cabinet also sought to help middle and lower-class families with an amendment to the Labor Insurance Regulations (勞工保險條例), allowing workers to receive a monthly allowance after they retire, the report said.

  “The current focus of the new government is to relax [regulations] and rebuild the nation,” the report quoted Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) as saying.

  Liu said the DPP government’s conservative policies had cost many Taiwanese companies their competitive edge.

  “People voted for the nation’s second power transition because they expected the new administration to correct what the previous administration did wrong and rebuild the public’s trust in the government,” he said.

  Liu said the Cabinet would spare no effort to achieve its goals, but would show the “Taiwanese spirit” demonstrated by Olympic taekwondo competitor Su Li-wen (蘇麗文) when she finished her match despite an injury.

  Several recent surveys conducted by organizations including the DPP and the Taiwan Competitiveness Forum have shown low approval ratings for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration.

  But an opinion poll conducted by the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday showed an increase in approval ratings for Ma and the premier.

  The survey said Ma’s approval rating had climbed 10 percentage points to 47 percent over the past month, while the public’s satisfaction with Liu had risen 8 percentage points to 43 percent in the same period.

  Commenting on the poll results, director of the DPP’s department of culture and information Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said yesterday the latest poll was merely an attempt by pro-Ma media to cover up the government’s poor performance and take the focus off the economy and inflation.

  Cheng said a survey conducted by the DPP on the eve of Ma’s 100th day in office found that his approval rating had plummeted to 36.9 percent, while that of the premier stood at 33.2 percent.

  Meanwhile, Liu welcomed AU Optronics Corp’s (AUO, 友達光電) decision to spend NT$400 billion (US$12.6 billion) over the next decade building four advanced flat-panel display factories at the Erlin Township (二林), Changhua County, base of the Central Taiwan Science Park.

  After meeting AUO chairman Lee Kun-yao (李焜耀) at the Executive Yuan yesterday afternoon, Liu praised Lee for throwing AUO’s support behind the government’s plan to build a high-tech industrial community in central Taiwan, which is part of the Cabinet’s “i-Taiwan” infrastructure projects.

  Liu said AUO’s investment plan was expected to create a significant number of jobs in the area.

  Lee told the premier during the meeting that the company would follow US Green Building Council guidelines in building the four factories to conserve energy.

  AUO said the project could become the company’s base of operations for the next decade, adding that the first stage of construction would begin in the second half of next year.

  ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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