President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday dismissed accusations that his administration is a lame duck, while criticizing the emphasis that news reports place on approval ratings.
Such ratings only reflect public opinion at certain periods of time, Ma told reporters at a reception in Taipei to mark the seventh year of his presidency, adding that he is focused on forging a solid foundation for national prosperity over many generations.
Ma’s comments referred to media use of a poll published yesterday by the Chinese-language Apple Daily that found Ma’s popularity ratings have slumped to 29 percent.
Photo: CNA
At the reception, Ma said that he had never been against “reasonable” national defense purchases, adding that the purchase of diesel submarines had always remained a priority.
The administration is adopting a dual-method approach to the acquisition of submarines for the Republic of China Navy, eyeing domestic production and foreign purchases, Ma said, adding that all groundwork would be prepared within his term of presidency for future governments.
The answer followed questions from reporters about the acquisition of submarines, which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had opposed during the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
The Chen administration explored the possibility of purchasing diesel submarines from then-US president George W. Bush’s administration at a cost of NT$600 billion (US$19.6 billion at current exchange rates).
Ma said the navy’s aging submarines would limit its defensive capabilities, adding that the administration is still looking for companies interested in offering technical support for the domestic development of submarines.
Ma denied that the administration was entering a “lame duck” period with presidential orders “stopping at the gates of the Presidential Office.”
He said that the recent amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and the passage of the Long-term Care Services Act (長期照顧服務法) were due to his recommendations.
The government is doing its job and looking into promoting the combination of housing and real-estate taxes, Ma said, adding, however, that not everything has proceeded smoothly.
Commenting on reported public discontent over increases in fuel and electricity prices, Ma said that they were necessary measures that would save Taiwan from long-term negative effects.
“The standardization of fuel prices and electricity prices has cost me an arm and a leg politically,” Ma said, but added that he is nonetheless thankful for the public’s support, now that the prices have been standardized.
When asked whether he would lose sleep over his low presidential approval ratings, Ma said that his every action was for the nation and the public, adding that he would look into more appropriate handling of issues.
Ma said Taiwan’s relations with the US have improved significantly.
Over the past seven years, Washington has approved the sale of three arms packages to Taipei worth more than US$18.3 billion. That represents the most sold to Taiwan by the US in the past 20 years, the president said.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
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