Amid rising complaints over reports on the soaring prices of daily necessities, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chang said official statistics showed that Taiwan's exports in September amounted to US$22.2 billion, "a new high" in the nation's export record.
Official records also showed growth in the nation's stock and real estate markets over the past two months, Chang said, adding that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has been putting greater emphasis on both economic development and the nation's dignity.
"Over the past five months, we have indeed put more focus on these two agendas. We made efforts to raise Taiwanese consciousness and seek Taiwan's entry to the UN. We also announced one beneficial policy every week in a bid to fight for Taiwan's economic sustainability," Chang said.
"In our efforts to promote economic development, we also gave consideration to [the rights of] laborers, veterans and poor families, and to social justice," Chang said, adding that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) both give weight to these two issues.
SPECULATION
Chang made the remarks in response to a question from the press on whether Chen and Hsieh were at odds with each other over cross-strait economic policies.
The speculation came after Chen said on Tuesday that he would not relax the 40 percent cap on investment in China although Hsieh had just proposed to ease the regulations the previous day.
Chang dismissed the media speculation yesterday, saying that Hsieh had simply been stressing the economic issue on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus lashed out at Chen yesterday over his remark on Thursday in response to a protester who shouted at him during Chen's visit to an audio equipment exhibition in Taipei.
When Chen was speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the exhibition, a male protester nearby yelled: "People can barely make a living."
The president at the time responded that he would respect the voice of the people, but at a separate setting later, he fired back, saying that "if the person who can barely make a living can still visit the audio equipment exhibition, Taiwan is not bad [afterall]."
KMT legislators yesterday panned the president as a "fatuous and self-indulgent ruler" and urged him to "show more empathy" for the people.
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"The harsh remarks made by those politicians are ruining the country's core values. The government is living in its small world and has failed to understand the people's feelings and expectations," Ma said during a media gathering in Taipei.
As a political party that was developed from the grassroots, Ma said he was astonished to learn that the DPP has turned into a party that did not listen to the people's voice anymore.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
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
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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at