The financial problems that the Miaoli County Government is facing is a warning to the entire nation, Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, vowing to lead the nation out of a debt trap if she is elected president.
Greeted by hundreds of supporters and accompanied by DPP county councilors, Tsai attended several rallies around the county to stump for the party’s legislative candidates, criticizing the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government, while promising that her party would do a better job.
“Miaoli County owes a record-high debt of more than NT$60 billion [US$1.9 billion], but the debt did not bring anything positive to the county, but only overinvestment and overdevelopment,” Tsai told the crowd. “The county government spent a lot of money on fireworks and concerts for the world’s top tenors; it failed to use taxpayers’ money effectively.”
Photo: CNA
The severity of the county’s debts is such that it could not even pay its employees, she said.
Tsai attributed the problem to the county government’s failure to manage its finances and the central government’s failure to properly audit it.
She added that the DPP would fix the problem not only for Miaoli, but also for the entire nation once elected to power.
Asked how she plans to solve the problem, Tsai said that she would review budget spending, and ask governments at both central and local levels to follow regulations strictly, while seeking to attract investments from the private sector.
“As the nation is now seriously indebted, what we need the most now are effective investments,” Tsai said. “Public living standards can only improve with private investments to revitalize the economy. The government needs to create a good environment for businesses as well as job opportunities for collaboration between the government and the private sector.”
Tsai also touched on cross-strait issues, condemning the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s recent simulation of an attack on the Presidential Office.
“Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is not Taiwan’s unilateral responsibility; rather, all players — including China — should share that responsibility,” Tsai said. “Such a simulation is very unfriendly, and is upsetting to Taiwanese people. It is something a responsible nation should not do.”
Tsai said that the incident also reminds Taiwanese of the importance of national defense, vowing that the DPP would work to strengthen national defense once in power.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS