President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday defended the Cabinet's announcement to halt reform of the grassroots cooperatives, saying the decision reflects a timing adjustment.
In the face of public criticism, Chen pledged his resolve to reform and urged the Cabinet to start direct communication with farmers and fishermen to allay opposition fears so that the goal of reform will be ultimately achieved.
"The DPP would not be called the DPP if it feared reform. The course of reform is full of obstacles. To take public opinion into account, we may adjust the pace. But [the adjustment] does not mean [we] flinch from reform, nor does it mean there is reversal of the reform," Chen told the media after the DPP's Central Standing Committee.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Bowing to pressure from the KMT and leaders in the credit department of the farmers' and fishermen's associations, the Cabinet said Sunday night it would indefinitely suspend a three-tiered risk-control mechanism -- which took effect in August -- over those credit departments with outstanding non-performing loans.
The decision, which meant to be a goodwill gesture to the farmers' and fishermen's associations, appeared to please no one after it was announced.
While the farmers and fishermen's Saturday march will proceed as scheduled, opposition lawmakers have suggested that the policy turnaround is a gambit by the Cabinet to coax farmers, fishermen and DPP lawmakers to doubt the government's resolve on reforms.
The dispute took center stage at the DPP's Central Standing Committee yesterday, where the president was forced to make a public speech to clarify the government's position after the meeting.
Chen said for future generations and for the future of Taiwan, the DPP will not fear reform, nor will the DPP fear losing power due to reforms.
But he said the DPP administration had to suspend the scheme because the public still has reservations about the plan. "As long as there is doubt, it means communication is not sufficient," he said.
Chen stressed that the government needs to take its case to the public and let them know that farmers and fishermen are the beneficiaries, not the victims, of the reform.
The overhaul of credit departments with non-performing loans will help the farmers' and fishermen's associations, Chen said. "The reform will not attempt to wipe out all farmers' and fishermen's associations," he said.
The president said that the DPP gained power from grassroots politics, so it places a high regard on public opinion.
"The party hates to see opposition because farmers and fishermen don't fully understand the policy," Chen said.
He called on the executive departments to communicate directly with farmers and fishermen to provide them with thorough explanations on the government's intention to work together toward the goal.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was said to have played a crucial role in the Cabinet's about-face.
Lee has opposed the reform measures proposed by DPP administration. He said in September that the DPP would risk losing power if it fails to tread carefully when dealing with the credit cooperatives' non-performing loans.
‘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
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
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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and