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.”
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its