President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) joined his party’s effort to further split the pan-green camp yesterday as he praised Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) for defending him from the criticism that he is selling out Taiwan.
“A politician has recently said that I cannot sell out Taiwan. What he said is true,” Ma said, referring to remarks made by Yang, who last week withdrew from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and announced his bid to run as an independent in the year-end Greater Kaohsiung mayoral race.
In a recent interview with CTi TV, Yang said he did have doubts about Ma, who has been criticized for selling out Taiwan.
After working closely with Ma in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, which lashed central and southern Taiwan in August last year, Yang said he had totally changed his perceptions of Ma.
“If Ma really wanted to sell out Taiwan, he could not do it alone,” he said in the interview. “Taiwan is an independent sovereignty. No one can sell out the country because that would need the consent of the people.”
Yang also apologized for his “ideological thinking and remarks” he made when he was a DPP member.
“I know how to sell Taiwanese fruit and fish, but I am not capable of selling out Taiwan,” Ma said in Taichung County yesterday.
He visited a technology firm, which is supposed to benefit from the recently signed cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
Ma said he understood the ECFA was not a panacea, but it could help local businesses by removing competition barriers and improving Taiwan’s competitiveness.
“In the past, it was like our businesses were wearing iron shoes so they could not run fast,” he said.
“Now with the ECFA, they are wearing the lightest running shoes in the world so they can easily win the first prize,” he said.
Ma said the trade deal has motivated many companies to keep their roots in Taiwan or increase their investment here. The agreement has also attracted foreign investors, he said.
In addition to drawing investment, Ma said the ECFA would lower tariffs and encourage other countries to “open their doors,” which he added would help advance economic integration in Asia.
Ma has said that after the “early harvest” program comes into effect on Jan. 1, he expected to see the program boost Taiwan’s GDP by 0.4 percent, create more than NT$190 billion (US$5.9 billion) in output value and produce a net employment gain of 600,000.
The early harvest list refers to a list of goods and services that will be subject to immediate tariff concessions or exemptions, which forms the backbone of the proposed deal.
China has agreed to gradually lower tariffs for 539 categories of imports, with an estimated value of US$13.8 billion a year. Beijing also agreed to open 11 service categories and 18 farming and fishery categories.
Although the 539 categories of traded goods accounted for only 16 percent of China-bound exports, the administration said they were still conducive to overall economic development.
Chinese exporters, on the other hand, will get a reciprocal deal on 267 items, with an estimated value of US$2.9 billion a year.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
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