A mature and open economy like Taiwan should not bank on the establishment of special economic zones to drive economic development, and even if they are necessary, they would be completely different from what President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has proposed, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
“The DPP will demand that the government submit a comprehensive plan and assessment on how the free economic pilot zones would help upgrade Taiwan’s industry and benefit local sectors before agreeing to review the special statute awaiting screening in the legislature. The party does not rule out proposing its own initiative,” Tsai said at the conclusion of the DPP’s two-day policy meeting in Greater Taichung.
The meeting, which gathered party officials, lawmakers and mayors and commissioners of DPP-governed administrative zones or their deputies, was organized to discuss several agenda set to be screened in the extra legislative session that begins on Friday. Yesterday it focused on the topics of the free economic pilot zones and the cross-strait service trade agreement.
Participants at the meeting agreed that the concept of special economic zones — found more often in lesser-developed countries, such as China — should be avoided because it would mean extending different treatments to businesses in the same sector, creating unequal competition.
The policy, the crown jewel of Ma’s “Golden Decade” pledge, aims to set up free economic pilot zones in Keelung Port, Suao Port in Yilan County, Taipei Port, Taichung Port, Anping Port in Greater Tainan, Kaohsiung Port, the Taoyuan Aerotropolis in Taoyuan County and the Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park to serve as models for business convenience and liberalization.
“The real, important issue today is not how many free economic pilot zones we would have and which city would have pilot zones, but whether the establishment of such a zone is legitimate and goal-oriented,” Tsai said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has accused the DPP of inconsistency, saying party headquarters and local DPP government heads appear to be at loggerheads, with Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung both demanding the right to host the zones.
Former minister of finance and DPP consultant Lin Chuan (林全) countered that the KMT’s economic growth-focused policy was outdated, with the government stuck in the “export processing zone era” of the 1970s and 1980s.
What the government needs to do is draw up a grand strategy that will benefit Taiwan as a whole rather than simply establishing special economic zones across the country, opening “backdoors” for Chinese agricultural products, personnel, wild animal trade as well as medical and education services, among others, he said.
The DPP is set to unveil its economic strategy that is founded on three elements: innovation, employment and distribution, Lin said.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the free economic pilot zone proposal needs to be overhauled and the DPP would insist on a clause-by-clause screening during the extra legislative session.
The senior lawmaker added that the KMT has relied on “old thinking” to deal with rapidly changing economic challenges, adding that providing tax incentives had proven to be an ineffective measure in attracting foreign investment.
The two-day meeting also discussed constitutional reform, with the party calling for the abolition of the Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan in the long term.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
RSS