The Taipei Society (
"The DPP government has over-tilted toward heavyweight business leaders and has sacrificed the interests of the majority of the people for the benefit of a few particular company owners," said Taipei Society Chairman Ku Chung-hwa (
"We once harshly criticized the former KMT administrations for their `black gold' politics, which means that the government had developed a symbiotic relationship with politicians with criminal backgrounds," Ku said. "Now we may say that by establishing connections with a few particular businessmen and forming a special interest group, the current DPP government is practicing `white gold' politics."
The Taipei Society, a group founded in 1989 by scholars from universities and the Academia Sinica, had a closed-door round-table discussion with Chen yesterday during which the group severely criticized some of the administration's policies.
Last week the society gave Chen an "expostulation on national affairs" (
In a press conference after meeting with Chen, the society warned that the public will begin to equate the DPP government with the former KMT government unless the administration draws a clearer line between its policies and business leaders' interests.
While no examples were given, society members alluded to the recent controversies over the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp and Chen's attendance at the opening ceremonies of various companies.
Yang Chung-hsin (楊重信), a professor at the Chinese Culture University, said, "Many of the government's policies, particularly those regarding cross-strait economic and trade issues, have tilted toward the enterprise owners."
The commercial interests of business leaders do not always follow public opinion, Yang said, adding that this could lead to the misallocation of resources and harm the public interest.
Ku told reporters that Chen had responded to the Taipei Society's harsh criticism by saying, "As president, I have to accept all outside criticism."
The society also expressed disappointment that Chen has followed the KMT tradition of using government appointments as political rewards.
"We can see that those important positions are still given to those who provided financial assistance or campaigned for Chen," Ku said.
Ku said the government can't keep blaming everything on the KMT administration.
"People still feel that the aspiration of Chen's administrations for reform is not strong enough. Its view is not broad enough and its steps are disorganized. His policies are contradictory," Ku said.
"We especially hope that Chen can promise to stay firm on reforms so as to respond to the people's expectations," Ku added.
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