The Executive Yuan yesterday appeared to fumble for an explanation after Cabinet officials gave different responses on the number of industries and projects chosen for the government’s flagship plan for a global investment-solicitation initiative.
Minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Christina Liu (劉憶如) presented a proposal for 12 industries and projects to be targeted in the government’s initiative to seek global investment at a meeting chaired by Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) on Wednesday.
After the meeting, Government Information Office (GIO) Vice Minister George Hsu (許秋煌) said the meeting did not come to a conclusion on the proposal, adding that Wu hoped the CEPD would solicit more views from civic groups in two meetings scheduled to take place next month.
However, at a separate setting on Wednesday night, Liu said Wu approved her proposal after a minor revision.
The different versions offered by the GIO and the CEPD led to different media reports, with some saying that 12 industries and projects were selected, while others reported that it was 10.
Asked about the discrepancy after the Cabinet’s weekly meeting yesterday, Liu said on Wednesday evening she had prepared a press release to correct Hsu’s comments after she noticed the Central News Agency and the United Daily Evening News had carried reports on them. The GIO decided not to release the press release, she said, adding that the office told her that the process to issue a statement to clarify previous remarks could be problematic because it would require the premier’s approval.
At a separate setting yesterday, Wu said the Wednesday meeting was for Cabinet officials to exchange opinions and not a statutory mechanism where the Cabinet hammered out policy.
Last night, the Executive Yuan issued a statement saying that the CEPD would continue to promote the initiative’s 10 programs. The programs are the proposed Taoyuan international aviation city, urban renewal, new high-tech industrial clustering in central Taiwan, cultural innovation and digital content, medical care, biotech and sophisticated agriculture, the internationalization of cuisines, cloud computing and WiMAX, smart electric cars and environmentally friendly energy and buildings.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS