Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday proposed decentralizing fiscal and political power to turn Taiwan into a multi-core nation with balanced regional development that would benefit the next generation.
The main theme of her policy on regional development is to “decompress” Taipei and the congested north and facilitate a “southward economy” that would benefit all Taiwanese, the DPP presidential candidate said in the second of a series of planned press conferences to unveil the DPP’s 10-year policy guidelines.
“Taiwan’s export and industrial production-oriented economy has over the years resulted in disparity between urban and rural areas; the northern and southern regions; as well as the eastern and western parts of Taiwan — and it ultimately created income inequality,” she said.
The glaring and worrisome disparity between different regions was the reason Tsai has proposed that the government should not invest all its resources in Taipei and the north, where about a quarter of the nation’s population resides.
The DPP intends to make a dramatic turnaround on national development policy, differing from that of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九), which Tsai said only focused on northern Taiwan and neglected other regions.
The northern and southern parts of Taiwan are facing different problems, she said, adding that while residents in the Taipei area enjoy more social resources and job opportunities, they are forced to endure a below-average quality of life.
Lack of efficiency in government funding under the Ma administration also contributed to the unbalanced regional development, Tsai said.
Tsai proposed transforming Taipei by funding large-scale urban redevelopment programs.
Local governments’ political power and fiscal power should also be expanded, Tsai said, so that they are able to play a lead role in regional development.
The new policy plans to develop key cities along the high-speed rail line into regional hubs and deploy new government facilities, institutions, corporate headquarters and innovative industries in central and southern Taiwan, former vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development Chang -Ching-sen (張景森) said.
The DPP will also be looking for possibilities to reshape the administrative areas to promote -better regional development, such as merging Hsinchu county and city as well Chiayi county and city, Chang said.
The Ma administration has always focused on development in northern Taiwan and intentionally blocks major projects in the south, Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠) said.
“Yunlin County and Chiayi County represent the largest source of agricultural produce in Taiwan, but we always feel like we are the bottom-ranked counties because we have not been treated fairly by the central government,” she said.
Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), a former Cabinet minister who is running for election in Greater Taichung, said central Taiwan “has been completely forgotten” by Ma and he proposed moving the legislature to Greater Taichung to “equalize” regional disparities and shift the center of power away from the capital.
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