Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文) yesterday won the endorsement of several financial experts, who said they hoped that Lien could do for Taipei what former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg did for the US city.
The pundits — who included former Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp chairman Schive Chi (薛琦), a former minister without portfolio; National Taiwan University economics professors Lin Chien-fu (林建甫) and Hsu Chen-min (許振明); Lu Hsin-chang (盧信昌), a professor in the university’s international business department; and former Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics director-general Duan Wei (韋伯韜) — told a news conference said that Taiwan needs to boost its efforts to negotiate free-trade agreements.
Lien said that many of his friends are very concerned about the economy of both Taipei and the nation. Taipei’s mayoral election has attracted widespread attention because it is not just about who will become the next mayor, but about the direction the nation will take.
Photo: CNA
“The election is also about how the economy in Taipei will be developed, which concerns all of us,” Lien said. “All these things happen unconsciously, and it might be too late when you begin to notice it.”
Many Taiwanese corporations will have to seek opportunities overseas because of the nation’s small domestic market, he said.
After the China-South Korea free-trade pact takes effect, “many domestic petrochemical plants will have to lay off employees or cut employees’ salaries, or they will not be able to survive,” he said.
“I am stepping up at this crucial moment to help the public understand the challenges facing Taiwan’s economy. This is not just about the election. It is about a question facing every person in Taiwan after Nov. 30,” Lien said.
National Taichung University of Science and Technology professor Lee Lung-sheng (李隆生) said the Democratic Progressive Party wanted to be in sync with the world economy by bypassing China, but that proposal is not feasible, given that China’s GDP already accounts for 15 percent of global GDP.
“When the nations around the world are trying to establish trade relations with China, how can Taiwan, being geographically so close to China, bypass China to be in sync with the rest of world economically?” he said.
Many netizens were quick to respond sarcastically to Lien’s comments on the economy, with some saying that “Lien should be running for president instead.”
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS