Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday proposed decentralizing fiscal and political power to turn Taiwan into a multi-core nation with balanced regional development that would benefit the next generation.
The main theme of her policy on regional development is to “decompress” Taipei and the congested north and facilitate a “southward economy” that would benefit all Taiwanese, the DPP presidential candidate said in the second of a series of planned press conferences to unveil the DPP’s 10-year policy guidelines.
“Taiwan’s export and industrial production-oriented economy has over the years resulted in disparity between urban and rural areas; the northern and southern regions; as well as the eastern and western parts of Taiwan — and it ultimately created income inequality,” she said.
The glaring and worrisome disparity between different regions was the reason Tsai has proposed that the government should not invest all its resources in Taipei and the north, where about a quarter of the nation’s population resides.
The DPP intends to make a dramatic turnaround on national development policy, differing from that of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九), which Tsai said only focused on northern Taiwan and neglected other regions.
The northern and southern parts of Taiwan are facing different problems, she said, adding that while residents in the Taipei area enjoy more social resources and job opportunities, they are forced to endure a below-average quality of life.
Lack of efficiency in government funding under the Ma administration also contributed to the unbalanced regional development, Tsai said.
Tsai proposed transforming Taipei by funding large-scale urban redevelopment programs.
Local governments’ political power and fiscal power should also be expanded, Tsai said, so that they are able to play a lead role in regional development.
The new policy plans to develop key cities along the high-speed rail line into regional hubs and deploy new government facilities, institutions, corporate headquarters and innovative industries in central and southern Taiwan, former vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development Chang -Ching-sen (張景森) said.
The DPP will also be looking for possibilities to reshape the administrative areas to promote -better regional development, such as merging Hsinchu county and city as well Chiayi county and city, Chang said.
The Ma administration has always focused on development in northern Taiwan and intentionally blocks major projects in the south, Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠) said.
“Yunlin County and Chiayi County represent the largest source of agricultural produce in Taiwan, but we always feel like we are the bottom-ranked counties because we have not been treated fairly by the central government,” she said.
Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), a former Cabinet minister who is running for election in Greater Taichung, said central Taiwan “has been completely forgotten” by Ma and he proposed moving the legislature to Greater Taichung to “equalize” regional disparities and shift the center of power away from the capital.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS