Finding ways to stabilize Tai-wan's economic and political situation is the biggest challenge facing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) during his second term, Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) said on Saturday.
Giving a speech at a workshop jointly organized by the Asia Research Center at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Taiwan's Institute for National Policy Research and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, Yao said that Chen, who won his second term by a slim margin, has his work cut out maintaining balance between people who support him and those who do not.
Another challenge facing the president is how to improve ties with the US and Japan, Yao said.
A third challenge is how to reopen dialogue with Beijing, which is difficult in light of the fact that Beijing insists on Taiwan knuckling under and accepting Beijing's "one country, two systems" premise before agreeing to talks with Taipei.
Yet another challenge is rewriting the Constitution to replace the existing one, which is out of date, Yao said.
Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), executive director of the Institute for National Policy Research, predicted that Chen will follow a moderate line in diplomacy in light of his narrow election win. However, there are some thorny diplomatic questions to be sorted out, among them a NT$610.8 billion (US$18.23 billion) deal for arms purchases from the US, Lo said, adding that unless the Democratic Progressive Party can win a majority in the Legislative Yuan elections at the end of the year, he will not have a free hand in diplomacy.
Lai Yi-chung (賴怡忠), a researcher at the Taiwan Think Tank, claimed that Taiwanese people feel closer to the Japanese and Americans than they do to the Chinese, with only 10 percent viewing themselves as Chinese.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
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China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
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