President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday in Kaohsiung City that Taiwan will firmly anchor itself within the world community by shouldering its share of international responsibility.
Chen told the sixth Asian-Pacific Non-governmental Organization Conference on the Environment that the Taiwan never forgets its duty to the world and will work together with international groups which share its concerns for sustainable development.
Noting that any development which spoils the environment will not last long, Chen said Asian-Pacific states should bear this in mind while pursuing their economic development.
Chen said that environmental protection measures worked out by the government cannot be effective without the participation of the general public -- and that is where NGOs can help.
The conference on the environment, called by the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan, began Friday. It has brought together 100-odd environmental specialists from 16 countries.
The participants will discuss water management, ocean and coastal management, urban environment, wetlands and biodiversity, public and private partnerships in environmental management among other issues at the four-day conference.
Meanwhile Vice President Annette Lu (
"Because of Taiwan's successful democratic development and the outstanding achievements of President Chen's administration, more and more countries and international organizations are interested in visiting our country," Lu said when inspecting infrastructure in southern Taiwan.
"I hope to set up at least three multi-function parks in the country -- one each in the northern, central and southern parts of Taiwan. And each park should be well equipped for holding large conventions in the future," she said.
Lu, accompanied by foreign business leaders and local government officials, visited some historical spots at the Ta-pan Bay in Pingtung County. She said that there should be a cultural and tourism park or conference center there to prepare for the future direct trade, transport, and postal with China.
"Such parks or centers will not only to help increase local-government revenue but more importantly, will increase Taiwan's visibility in the international community," she said.
Lu also urged the government to invite foreign business leaders to invest in the plan so that Taiwan's tourism industries may develop a strategic alliance with those international enterprises.
"Taiwan can become Asia's Switzerland and Kaohsiung's port is the the best place to launch direct links once the two sides of the Taiwan Strait agree.
"Then southern Taiwan may become one of the economic, cultural, and tourist attractions of the Eastern Asia, and possibly the world," Lu said.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
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