President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) must stop sugar-coating the ugly truth behind Taiwan's sluggish economy and reshuffle the Cabinet, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday in the wake of the government's announcement that first-quarter GDP shrank by 10.24 percent.
Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) figures showed that the economy contracted at a record pace in the first quarter because of plummeting exports, prompting the government to trim its GDP forecast for this year to a decline of 4.25 percent.
The most worrisome element about the figure is “the worst is yet to come,” DPP caucus whip Lee Chun-yi (李俊毅) said, adding that he was concerned the Executive Yuan was deflating the real number in a bid to buttress Ma's popularity.
DPP Legislator Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) lambasted Ma's consumer voucher program, saying it was a complete flop because it failed to boost the economy as the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) predicted.
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said instead of making good on his “6-3-3” pledge — an annual economic growth of 6 percent, a per capita income of US$30,000 and an unemployment rate of less than 3 percent by 2012, Ma appeared to be pushing a “10-10-6” policy — a 10 percent GDP decline, the nation's global competiveness falling by 10 places and a jobless rate of nearly 6 percent.
The DPP caucus called on Ma to overhaul his Cabinet and replace it with economic experts.
“Ma is quite amazing. He was able to ruin Taiwan's economy in one year. This is something that the DPP or the old Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime was not able to accomplish,”Lee Chun-yi said.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
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