To help their constituencies attract foreign capital, lawmakers from across party lines yesterday urged the government to give serious thought to establishing free-trade port zones.
They said policymakers should adopt a liberal and active attitude when approaching the matter, as conservatism may hamper the pace of progress.
DPP legislative whip Wang Tuoh (
"Taiwan cannot afford to ignore the trend of globalization, or it will witness its international competitiveness steadily dwindle," Wang told a news conference. "If that happens, we may expect economic indexes to head downwards."
To avoid that, he suggested the Cabinet lower the requirements for domestic ports to qualify for free-trade zones.
The Cabinet is about to unveil draft rules for the establishment and management of free-trade port districts. The measure is part of the six-year national development plan called "Challenge 2008."
PFP lawmaker Liu Wen-hsiung (
He said the inability to integrate public and private resources led the failure by the former KMT administration to build Taiwan into a regional commercial operations center.
DPP lawmaker Chiu Tai-san (邱太三), who represents Taichung County where the Taichung harbor is located, said free-trade ports provide the answer to concerns about direct links with China.
He envisions a free-trade port where Chinese businessmen will be allowed three-day visa-free visits. Chiu dubbed the measure "medium-scale direct links."
Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), a DPP lawmaker from the southern port city of Kaohsiung, said it is better for the government to categorize free-trade ports as "special public legal entities" so they may function more smoothly and effectively.
He frowned on an idea floated by economic officials to put these ports under the joint custody of transportation, economics and mainland affairs agencies.
The lawmakers will hold a forum today and tomorrow to advance their cause.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy