Warming up for the 2004 presidential election, the KMT yesterday held a seminar to announce its plan to help the nation tackle its difficulties.
KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
PHOTO: CHUN YU-PING, TAIPEI TIMES
"The nation is faced with more crises than ever before with its chaotic politics, sluggish economy and rising unemployment," Lien said at the seminar. "This seminar is being held out of the good-will of the KMT, which has learned from its past successes and failures and can provide substantial advice to the government."
While Lien said the seminar was held in order to gather proposals to better Taiwan's development this year, yesterday's seminar, however, was widely regarded as a warm-up for Lien's run in the 2004 presidential election.
Lien has also scheduled a press conference on Jan. 24.
KMT Spokesman Justine Chou (
Yesterday's one-day seminar, titled "Salvage Taiwan through Reforms," was organized by the KMT's Policy Coordination Committee and the KMT-sponsored think tank National Policy Foundation.
Attended by KMT party leaders, KMT legislators and scholars, former New Party Legislator Lai Shyh-bao(賴士葆), independent Legislator Sisy Chen (陳文茜) and political critic Nan Fang Shuo (南方朔), the seminar focused on political, economic and social reforms.
The seminar's participants suggested that the party root out politicians with connections to organized crime or party members with a history of corruption.
Seminar participants said that direct transportation links with China is the key area to revitalize Taiwan's economic development.
"The majority of the people in Taiwan feel that direct transportation links with China is a necessary step," Lien said. "In a bid to attract foreign businesses to Taiwan and revitalize Taiwan's economy, the DPP administration should take advantage of its geological location and work to push for direct transportation links immediately"
Proposals to ensure the independence of the judiciary, improve financial management, develop the economy and reform the education system were also presented at the seminar.
Saying that the government's plan to increase fees for health insurance is a violation of human rights as it would add to the financial burden of the citizenry in the midst of Taiwan's sluggish economy and thus prevent the poor from seeking health care, seminar participants proposed that the government set aside part of its budget to help local governments to pay their debt to the national health insurance system.
Lien, who is also chairman of the National Policy Foundation, said the party will seriously consider all the proposals discussed at the seminar and will submit effective proposals to the legislature.
The party broke divided the proposals into various groups and appointed a number of KMT legislators and party leaders to head groups to evaluate the issues and to draw up feasible timelines of when the proposals could be implemented.
Before the seminar concluded, KMT Legislator Wang Chung-yu (
‘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
RSS