Government wants to hold giant expo during 2008 Games

Taiwan plans to hold a giant expo in 2008 and try to steal some of the limelight from China as Beijing plays host to the Olympic Games, according to a proposed six-year government plan.

The blueprint is the latest effort to encourage the creativity and talent Taiwan needs to evolve into a "green silicon island" -- a progressive place devoted to clean high-tech industries, not the polluting, traditional manufacturing that made Taiwan a world trading power.

The government is expected to start implementing the six-year plan next month after Premier Yu Shyi-kun publicly announced it in late April, according to the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD).

Officials in China and Taiwan have discussed sharing the 2008 Summer Games, but so far long-standing disagreements about politics have halted any cooperation.

China is becoming one of Taiwan's biggest competitors in business, and there's growing concern in Taiwan that China might soon surpass the nation in its niche market -- making computer chips and other electronics components.

Vice Premier Lin Hsin-yi (林信義), who concurrently serves as CEPD's chairman, convened an intra-ministry meeting Tuesday to put the final touches on the proposed six-year plan after 57 rounds of revision.

CEPD Vice Chairman Chang Jing-sen (張景森) said the plan would promote English-language education and high-tech training, along with the creation of more government-funded foundations for research and development.