The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday criticized President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for his optimistic forecasts about the nation’s economic prospects, adding that the predictions would hurt the public if they did not come true.
Ma on Sunday said during an address that he expected GDP to see growth again in the second quarter next year.
Ma said he was confident the nation would soon recover from the effects of the global financial crisis, not because of his leadership but because of the Taiwanese spirit.
DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) told a press conference that Ma was boasting without offering any evidence to support his forecast. If the public again trusts Ma’s statements and invest in the stock market, they could be in for trouble if their investments failed, he said.
“I was concerned about Ma’s repeated, irresponsible remarks about the economy,” Lai said, adding that the administration had been fooling the public.
Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) has apologized for predicting that the TAIEX could rise as high as 20,000 points under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration, while Ma has not met his 6-3-3 campaign promise, Lai said.
The promise referred to 6 percent annual GDP growth, 3 percent unemployment and an average annual income of US$30,000.
Ma said during the address that his administration would create about 300,000 jobs in the following four years, with the first 100,000 created within the next six months. He said that after guaranteeing deposits at all banks to stabilize the domestic financial market, the administration had proposed a four-year, NT$500 billion (US$15.2 billion) economic stimulus package to pull the economy out of its rut.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
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