President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said that the nation’s economy was slowly but steadily recovering, and promised to lead Taiwan out of this “economic tunnel.”
At an annual national breakfast prayer yesterday, Ma acknowledged that the economic recovery had been very slow, but expressed optimism about the outlook in the future.
“We have faced a bad economic situation this year, but we’ve seen some positive signs since September. The economy is in slow recovery and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The government will not be content, as the road to the end of the tunnel is still long,” he said at the event in Taipei.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Ma stressed the government’s determination to boost the economy and called on the public to work together and face the difficult situation with patience and diligence.
He also cited examples of Taiwanese figures, including NBA star Jeremy Lin (林書豪), the late Cardinal Paul Shan (單國璽) and Chen Shu-chu (陳樹菊), a vegetable vendor who was listed as Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2010 because of her philanthropic work, and said their hard work and devotion have raised Taiwan’s international reputation.
Reverend Chang Mao-sung (張茂松) also expressed optimism about the nation’s future in a speech at the event.
He blamed local political talk shows for spreading negative comments about Taiwan, and urged the Ma administration to “pull out the weeds” during what he called famine years and plant seeds of love and hope on the island.
“We need political talk shows to tell us about the hopes and future of Taiwan … The nation has experienced years of famine, but this is the time to cultivate and plant seeds. I have a dream that President Ma will help college graduates increase their starting salary to NT$40,000 [US$1375] before his term ends,” he said.
Ma thanked church groups for their compassion and contribution to society, but did not respond to the call for raising starting salaries, which currently start at about NT$22,000.
Several pastors then led the audience to pray for Ma and political leaders, asking that the president be blessed with ability, courage and wisdom as political parties work together to improve people’s livelihoods.
The event, co-organized by the Bread of Life Christian Church in Taipei and other churches, was co-initiated by Reverend Kao Chun-ming (高俊明) in 2001 after he attended a similar prayer breakfast event in South Korea.
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