Senior presidential advisor Li Kwoh-ting (
Li, 92, had been in a coma since May 21 after suffering a stroke.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
After learning of Li's death, Secretary-General to the President Yu Shyi-kun, on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (
The Institute for Information Industry (
Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) said yesterday: "Li was a remarkable person. Many people admire his contribution [to the country] and we are not likely to find another role model like Li again," Lee said.
Having served as head of the government's economic, financial and high-technology ministries for over 35 years, Li has been dubbed the country's "father of technological development" and "father of finance and the economy."
As a major economic policy-maker under former president Chiang Ching-kuo (
Li also helped develop Taiwan's semiconductor industry by asking the present chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Morris Chang (張忠謀), to return from the US and head Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院).
"If it had not been for Li, TSMC's achievements would never have been possible," Chang once told the media.
One of the key architects of Taiwan's economic miracle, Li was invited to attend several international conferences in China and met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
Li, who had put particular emphasis on information technology, however, also attracted severe criticism for ignoring the development of small and medium-sized enterprises by favoring larger firms with more government resources.
"In terms of a lack of government financing to small and medium-enterprises, [Li's policies] forced them to go to the black market for capital," Wu Hui-lin (
Wu added that Li's emphasis at the time on only cultivating talent in the fields of technology and electronics put undue strain on the progress of educational reform, shifting funds away from school programs that taught subjects other than technology and electronics.
Industry tycoon Wang Yung-ching (
But the overwhelming consensus is that Li was a driving force in leading Taiwan to become, as of last year, the 14th-largest trading nation in the world.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2