Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday officially unveiled her party’s 10-year policy guidelines, saying they represented “a commitment to Taiwan’s next generation” and illustrated the contrast between the DPP’s values and those of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
In one of her most important speeches, the DPP presidential candidate said the guidelines, which took two-and-a-half years to formulate and contain 18 chapters on a variety of issues, are a reflection of the party’s experiences and mistakes while in power.
“The guidelines are our commitment to the next generation and they are formulated with the aim of strengthening Taiwan and making it a coherent country,” Tsai said.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The guidelines are built around two core concepts: Taiwan has to put its best face forward internationally and fairness and justice have to be served, Tsai told a press conference with dozens of academics and former officials, who took part in more than 100 meetings about the guidelines with Tsai since June 2009, seated beside the podium.
Between 2002 — the year Taiwan joined the WTO — and this year, the nation has experienced almost a decade of major challenges amid rapid globalization, she said.
However, despite the work the DPP did between 2000 and 2008, issues such as income disparity, regional development, as well as economic and wage stagnation remained unresolved and have even grown worse during President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) three years in office, she said.
“With its impromptu and rash policymaking, the Ma administration has been out of synch with society and has become a roadblock to Taiwan’s progress,” she said.
Tsai laid out six pillars for her overall national policy: an economy oriented toward employment, a society with fair distribution of resources, a secure and sustainable environment, a diverse and innovative education system and culture, a democracy deepened by public participation and, finally, a stable, multilateral peace strategy.
The 54-year-old expressed the view that the government should play an active role in national development.
For example, she called for publicly funded, large-scale urban regeneration projects, an increase in the market share of public universities and a state-funded care system for children and the elderly.
The policy guidelines — effectively her presidential policy platform — highlight the essential differences between the DPP and the KMT, she said.
While the KMT insists on a GDP-oriented, pro-corporation economy based on industrial development and an education system based on nationalism, the DPP intends to emphasize job creation and building the domestic economy, improving quality of life, industrial upgrades, good governance, making peace with nature and encouraging diversity, she said.
The differences in policies illustrate the drastically different values of the two parties, she said.
As for the DPP’s China policy, perhaps the most anticipated topic of the guidelines, Tsai said a multilayered and multifaceted exchange across the Taiwan Strait would be welcomed, adding that cross-strait trade should be one part of the nation’s global economic engagement as Taipei seeks to sign free-trade agreements with the US, Japan, the EU and ASEAN members, as well as ensure the benefits of cross-strait trade are shared equally with the public.
More details on her China policy will be discussed today, when Tsai hosts the last presentation of the guidelines before they are sent to the DPP Central Executive Committee for approval tomorrow.
“I was always told that no one paid attention to policies in Taiwanese elections. However, experiences from the past years tell me otherwise,” she said.
She said she hoped everyone would take the policies seriously, rather than engaging in another round of rhetorical battle.
“Taiwan has been idle for three years. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work,” she said.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for