Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) over the weekend of lacking sincerity, saying he only knew how to talk about his accomplishments while failing to apologize for his policy shortcomings.
They said the public would no longer believe a president who lacks credibility. Ma is running for re-election in January.
Although the budget allocated for Hakka affairs has expanded exponentially in four years, as the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics’ detailed figures for next year’s budget show, Ma has failed to meet his other budgetary promises, the DPP said.
Ma had promised that the national defense budget would constitute no less than 3 percent of GDP, but the government had failed to meet this requirement in his two years in office — with both last year’s and this year’s defense budget standing at 2.7 percent of GDP, they said.
On education, Ma had proposed that its budget would increase by 0.2 percent of GDP per year, translating into an increase of NT$24 billion (US$807 million) per year, with government expenditure on education reaching 6 percent of GDP after eight years.
However, DPP legislators said that only the budget for 2009 had met this goal and that the net increase in funding for education in each of the two subsequent years did not even reach NT$20 billion.
The Ma administration also said it would set aside NT$10 billion annually for the Small and Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Fund of Taiwan and NT$5 billion for the establishment of a cultural diplomacy foundation, but both promises have not been fulfilled, they said.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said Ma should apologize for failing to meet many of his policies, adding that the government’s focus on only its accomplishments was deceiving the public.
Ma’s credibility as a president has become questionable, Tsai said.
DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) agreed, saying: “The Ma administration only spreads the good news and doesn’t tell you the bad news.”
He added that the administration had only actively talked about the few policies that it had achieved while keeping silent on the ones it had not met.
Taiwanese will no longer believe Ma, Pan said.
In response, Research, Development and Evaluation Commission spokesman Sung Yu-hsieh (宋餘俠) said the execution of some policies were divided into parts and needed to be viewed on a case-by-case basis.
Sung added that if a policy’s execution was not up to speed, the evaluation unit would remind the agency in charge of its implementation to expedite its execution.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
PROCEDURE: Although there is already a cross-strait agreement in place for the extradition of criminals, ample notice is meant to be given to the other side first Ten Taiwanese who were involved in fraud-related crimes in China were extradited back to Taiwan via Kinmen County on Wednesday, four of whom are convicted fraudsters in Taiwan. The 10 people arrived via a ferry operating between Xiamen and Kinmen, also known as the “small three links.” The Kinmen County Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said that four of the 10 extradited people were convicted in Taiwan for committing fraud and contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), and were on the wanted list. They were immediately arrested upon arrival and sent to Kinmen Prison to serve their sentences following brief questioning, the office said.
Taipei and Kaohsiung have extended an open invitation to Japanese pop star Ayumi Hamasaki after Chinese authorities abruptly canceled her scheduled concert in Shanghai. Hamasaki, 47, had been slated to perform on Saturday before organizers pulled the show at the last minute, citing “force majeure,” a move widely viewed as retaliation for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could draw a military response from Tokyo. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday said the city “very much welcomes” Hamasaki’s return and would continue to “surprise” her. Hamasaki, who has a large global fan base, including
‘REGRETTABLE’: Travelers reported that Seoul’s online arrival card system lists Taiwan as ‘China (Taiwan),’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday urged South Korea to correct the way Taiwan is listed in its newly launched e-Arrival card system, saying the current designation downgrades the nation’s status. South Korea rolled out the online system on Feb. 24 to gradually replace paper arrival cards, which it plans to phase out by next year. Travelers must complete the electronic form up to 72 hours before entering the country. The ministry said it has received multiple complaints from Taiwanese travelers saying that the system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in dropdown menus for both “place of departure” and “next
VIGILANT: Enterovirus activity remains in the epidemic phase, with the CDC urging caregivers of infected children to be on the lookout for signs of severe illness Influenza activity is rising in neighboring countries, and, with temperatures forecast to drop this week, flu cases are expected to increase in the next two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Hospitals reported 87,162 visits for flu-like illnesses between Nov. 23 and Saturday, which remained about the same level as the previous week, but nine deaths and 24 cases with serious flu complications were also confirmed last week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. Flu activity reached a peak in late September before declining for eight consecutive weeks, CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesman Lin Min-cheng (林明誠)
RSS