President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he has heard the public’s complaints about the government, and promised to try to improve its performance amid constant protests against him.
“We’ve heard the people’s voice, and we hope the people give the government more opportunity and time. There are things that we need to do immediately, and there are things that require a little time. We will do it step-by-step,” he said while attending the 13th National Prayer Breakfast in New Taipei City (新北市).
Ma made the comments in response to a protest held at the event, in which several people holding a white banner expressing opposition to several government policies, including the cross-strait services trade agreement, the forced demolition of privately owned houses for urban renewal and the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
Photo: CNA
The protesters kept silent during the protest, but were still asked to leave by security. The Presidential Office later accepted a petition from them.
Ma defended the government’s efforts to improve the economy by signing economic pacts with major trade partners and creating more investment opportunities for local businesses.
He also cited the government’s handling of the public discontent over the death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), who died on July 4 after he was confined and forced to do strenuous exercise in extreme heat, and said the government’s move to turn over the trials of military personnel to civilian courts was a positive response.
“This example represents the government’s prompt response to a request in a mature civil society. The government communicates with the people, and takes necessary actions to respond to their requests,” he said.
Later yesterday, while meeting with representatives of the electronic commerce industry at the Presidential Office, Ma said the cross-strait service trade agreement aimed to profit the whole nation, rather than a particular political party or industry.
“Our trade rivals have been speeding up their pace of signing free-trade agreements with mainland China and other nations. The advantages we created via the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement will disappear soon if we don’t catch up,” he said, calling for the approval of the service trade pact in the legislature.
The pact, which was signed in June and opened market access to 64 local service sectors to Chinese investment, has been under strong public scrutiny over what the opposition and representatives of the service sectors called lack of transparency and prior consultation.
The legislature went on to demand the pact be screened and voted on clause-by-clause.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS