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Ma addresses celebrations committee

Despite the muted National Day celebrations last month, the government is planning a year of activities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China (ROC).

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said the significance of the celebrations is to continue the “unique spirit” that Taiwan has developed over the past 60 years since the ROC government relocated to Taipei.

“There is no doubt that Taiwan is leading the development of freedom, democracy and liberalization in the Chinese community,” Ma said. “Taiwan’s freedom of speech, democracy and fast and accurate vote counting are unique among many countries.”

One of the most important missions of the preparatory committee for the celebrations would be to showcase the country’s cultural might and carry forward the “Taiwan spirit,” as well as promote “Taiwan-featured Chinese culture,” Ma said.

Ma made the remarks while addressing the first meeting of the preparatory committee for the celebration activities at the Taipei Grand Hotel yesterday morning.

Ma said during his National Day address he brought up a “unique and important” concept, in which he said one of the important features of Taiwan’s development over the past 60 years was that it has developed “Chinese culture with Taiwanese characteristics.”

“That is what I call the ‘Taiwan spirit,’” Ma said. “The ‘Taiwan spirit’ includes endurance, harmony, respect and pluralism, values that enrich Chinese culture, Taiwanese life, you and me, and our children.”

Since he took office in May last year, Ma said he has been making efforts to build a clean government that puts the public first. His government has been exerting itself to build Taiwan into a country of technology and humanity, he said.

His cross-strait policy is based on the principle that Taiwan is always the focus and the public interest comes first, he said, with the goal of turning the Taiwan Strait, which he described as a potential battlefield, into a “peace square” and “prosperity road.”

On the diplomatic front, Ma said “stable” cross-strait relations have served as the foundation of the country’s international affairs and have helped to increase Taiwan’s international space.

“With the concerted effort of the government and the private sector, we hope when we celebrate the 100th year of this country, we will lay a solid foundation for another 100 years to come,” Ma said.

Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), assigned by Ma to be the chairman of the preparatory committee, said it has decided to establish a foundation and charge it with the task of executing the plans mapped out by the committee.

The committee will meet regularly to exchange opinions and make decisions, Siew said. Members include 25 local government chiefs, representatives from industry, education, arts and culture, sports, charities, labor groups and women’s rights groups, as well as other interest groups from both home and abroad.

The Executive Yuan has also set up a task force, chaired by Minister Without Portfolio Ovid Tseng (曾志朗), to help with the planning and coordination of activities organized by ministries and local governments, Siew said.

The foundation, scheduled to become operational next month, welcomes donations. Its funding and the employment of personnel will not be regulated in the same way as a government agency, he said, adding that it would make hiring more flexible and operations run more smoothly.

When asked whether the foundation would accept donations from China, Presidential Office Secretary-General Liao Liou-yi (廖了以), vice chairman of the foundation, said the committee had not discussed the issue, but would “try to reject” any donation that was “sensitive” in nature.

Tsai Shih-ping (蔡詩萍), chief executive officer of the foundation, said the funding would “mainly” come from the private sector and that the government had not allocated any money for the foundation next year.

While Beijing invited Taiwanese politicians to attend its national day celebrations on Oct. 1, Liao said the foundation would deal with the matter of who to invite carefully.
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