Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday criticized President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) — saying Ma makes policy decisions unilaterally — and called the nation’s democracy “fake,” advocating for a second democratic reform.
“The central government has concentrated too much power in its hands,” Lee said during a meeting with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City and New Taipei City councilors yesterday. “It is making decisions however it likes, without listening to the voices of the people.”
Lee cited the cross-strait service trade agreement, saying that, despite strong opposition from the public, Ma insists on forcing the legislature to pass the agreement.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
“The leader is not listening to the people. I always say that he [Ma] only looks into the mirror when he makes decisions,” Lee said.
He added that, although there are elections, national politics are chaotic.
“For example, facing the recent oil scandals, central and local governments are blaming each other. They should not be pointing fingers at each other, but rather they should work together to find a way to solve the problem for the public,” he said.
Lee also criticized the government’s China-leaning policies.
“What I am most concerned about now is the self-governance of Taiwan,” Lee said. “To boost Taiwan’s economy, we need more creativity.”
He also condemned businesses that rely on low-cost operations in China.
“Businesses tried to solve their problems by relocating production to China, to cut costs,” he said.
When businesses do so, they leave Taiwan with problems, including high unemployment and low salaries, Lee said.
“It is a sad thing that college graduates cannot find jobs and have to go to China or Australia to work,” Lee said. “Gradually, the distribution of wealth becomes unbalanced, those who are wealthy get wealthier, while the poor become poorer.”
He said that, when wealthy people invest in real-estate properties, housing prices skyrocket and young people are left unable to afford housing. In those situations, young people fear getting married, and even when they are married, they fear having children.
Lee also voiced his opposition to complete economic liberalization, saying that “the government should intervene and regulate when it has to.”
Lee told the city councilor candidates that they should not see themselves as “leaders” of the city, but rather as managers or executives who run the city as if they are running a business.
“There are differences between Taipei and New Taipei City, and there are also differences among different districts or neighborhoods — a good councilor is able to identify these differences and use them as selling points for different communities,” Lee said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS