President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday that it was a good time to adjust economic policies during a downturn in the economy, ensuring the public that his administration would make every effort to realize his “6-3-3” economic policy.
The “6-3-3” policy refers to Ma’s campaign pledge to deliver annual GDP growth of 6 percent, an unemployment rate of less than 3 percent and annual per capita income of US$30,000.
Ma made the remarks while receiving regional directors of the Lions Clubs International at the Presidential Office yesterday morning. He said that as many countries were suffering from the global economic slump, his administration had to be steadfast and aggressive in setting economic policy so it could react to the changing situation.
“Despite the unfavorable economic situation, the government must push measures designed to improve the economy,” he said. “For example, we must further relax regulations, lift bans and create an environment in which industry can operate more freely.”
Despite his earlier comments that it would take eight years to realize the “6-3-3” goal, Ma said his administration had never abandoned the goal nor has it been changed.
Economic development goes through cycles, Ma said, adding that it was a good time to examine various polices while the economy was in a downturn, so the nation could grasp the opportunity to rise up again when the situation improved.
Regarding price increases of fuel and raw materials, Ma said the government should react to rising crude and international raw material prices, but it should make every effort to minimize the impact on the public. To that end, the government respected market mechanisms, but at the same time it would offer assistance to the disadvantaged, he said.
Ma also patted himself on the back for purchasing moon cakes from disadvantaged fruit farmers. Ma said the Presidential Office had purchased more than 11,000 items, including 8,400 boxes of moon cakes.
Ma said they were purchased from disadvantaged groups to give to the underprivileged, which would boost the farmers’ buying power and stimulate the economy.
Meanwhile, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) yesterday endorsed the economic stimulus plan announced by the Executive Yuan, urging the public to give the government some time before demanding results.
In addition to encouraging the government to “listen, think and take action,” Siew called on the public to have faith in the government and remain optimistic because the country would overcome its difficulties and manage the crisis.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater