Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chairman Liu Teh-hsun (劉德勳) said yesterday that the public was confident that cross-strait political stability and economic development will grow in the next four years, adding that the direction of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between Taiwan and China had been set, although no details have been discussed.
Several leading economists on Sunday warned about the danger of Taiwan’s heavy reliance on China and urged the government to spend more time researching whether China has policies that put Taiwan at a disadvantage.
“Instead of paying attention to the bigger issues, the [Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九] administration is acting like a beggar, imploring China to allow the import of Taiwanese oranges. Who in their right mind would resort to begging during a trade negotiation?” said Chen Poh-chih (陳博志), chairman of Taiwan Thinktank, adding that Ma’s economic policies had bankrupted the country and increased injustice and disparity.
National Taiwan University professor of economics Kenneth Lin (林尚愷) said Taiwan had become so dependent on China that, “If China catches a cold, Taiwan will end up with vomiting and diarrhea.”
In a compilation of 108 surveys that were given on cross-strait issues last year, MAC said 52 percent to 68 percent of respondents believed cross-strait relations were gradually improving and at least 67 percent were satisfied with President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies toward China.
Despite three days of street protests and massive rallies against a visit by Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) in November, the MAC still said 56 percent to 58 percent of the public supported the visit and approved of the results of a meeting in which Taipei and Beijing signed four agreements on air and sea shipping, postal services and food safety.
None of the surveys polled the people’s views on how the government handled the protests. It was estimated that more than 100 people, including police officers, were injured in the clash. TV footage showed some police forcefully removing independence supporters and banning the display of Republic of China flags.
The MAC also said the majority of the public lauded the opening of direct cross-strait flights and allowing Chinese tourists to come to Taiwan, with between 60 percent and 67 percent of those surveyed agreeing that the establishment of direct flights boosted Taiwan’s competitiveness.
On the political side, the MAC said that nearly 80 percent agreed with Ma’s policy of “no unification, no independence, no military action” and his stance on maintaining the so-called “status quo.”
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
The 2025 Kaohsiung Wonderland–Winter Amusement Park event has teamed up with the Japanese manga series Chiikawa this year for its opening at Love River Bay yesterday, attracting more than 10,000 visitors, the city government said. Following the success of the “2024 Kaohsiung Wonderland” collaboration with a giant inflatable yellow duck installation designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, this year the Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau collaborated with Chiikawa by Japanese illustrator Nagano to present two giant inflatable characters. Two inflatable floats — the main character, Chiikwa, a white bear-like creature with round ears, and Hachiware, a white cat with a blue-tipped tail
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