The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will commence its first comprehensive review of its eight-year administration from 2000 to 2008 tomorrow with a series of seminars headed by former government officials, in hopes that the introspection will help the party return to power.
The seminars, organized by the DPP’s think tank, come on the heels of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) rejoining the party, which was approved by the DPP’s review panel on Wednesday last week.
Chen, who is serving a 20-year sentence for corruption, quit the party in 2008 amid snowballing corruption scandals.
While the seminars have been widely considered the DPP’s official “judgement” on Chen, think tank deputy executive director You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said the seminars do not target any specific person.
The seminar tomorrow will be the first of four weekly instalments, which will take a look at what the DPP accomplished and what it failed to do during its eight years in power. It will cover 17 policy areas, starting with four topics tomorrow, the economy, foreign policy, cross-strait policy and national defense.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) will host the panel discussion on national defense.
“The party is trying to draw from the experience of the ‘New Labour’ movement initiated by former British prime minister and Labour Party leader Tony Blair by enlarging participation in the seminars and to adjust the party’s position and direction if necessary,” think tank executive director Lin Wan-i (林萬億) said.
A number of pan-blue politicians and academics have agreed to attend the seminars, including Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who served as Environmental Protection Agency minister under the Chen administration, and Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies president Chao Chun-shan (趙春山), one of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) most trusted cross-strait affairs advisers.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who was a former head of the Council of Labor Affairs, will host the discussion on labor affairs, and Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) will preside over the health forum.
Former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), a former vice premier, will not attend the event. Tang Fei (唐飛), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member who served as Chen’s first premier, but lasted less than five months, also declined the invitation.
Policy areas to be discussed on Friday next week include finance, banking, transportation, agriculture and environment and energy, followed by two more seminars on Sept. 6 and Sept. 14.
A roundtable forum of all premiers during the DPP administration — Su, Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Yu Shyi-kun and Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) — would conclude the review on Sept. 14.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it