President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he and Vice President-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) are confident Taiwan would be “completely different” when the next presidential election is held in 2016.
Addressing a spring gathering of representatives from the nation’s transportation and communications sectors on Sunday, Ma, who was re-elected on Jan. 14, said the targets he set for his first and second terms would be achieved step by step.
His first-term goals were “rectifying the government and catching up with the rest of the world” — aiming to right what he characterizes as the wrongs done by former -president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) Democratic Progressive Party administration.
His second-term goals are “overhauling the country and marching toward excellence,” Ma said.
One of his policy goals was to lower prices for Internet services, which he said his government had done twice and would keep doing to help consumers enjoy “faster, cheaper and better” Internet access.
Another major achievement Ma boasted was expanding Taiwan’s sea and air transportation links to other parts of the world, saying he was pleased to see his project for a “Northeast Asia air service hub” being realized with the launch of direct flights between Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and Gimpo International Airport in Seoul next month.
“A new era dawned in the last year of my first term in office,” Ma said.
He said he paid special attention to developing the country’s air and sea transportation industry because poor development of the industry is very dangerous for an island nation like Taiwan.
“Not having a well-developed sea and air transportation industry, it would greatly dent our international competitiveness,” he said.
He knows many people share his dream of opening up Taiwan to the world and bringing the world to Taiwan — a dream that he would not have a chance to realize had he not been president, Ma said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
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