The Presidential Office revealed yesterday that the government will not loosen the current "no haste, be patient" (戒急用忍) policy. It will also not produce a schedule for the opening of the "big three links" (大三通) between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait during the upcoming "cross-party advisory board on economic development" (經濟發展諮詢委員會), local media reported.
The "no haste, be patient" policy, which bans any single China-bound investment project worth more than US$50 million, was first proposed and implemented by the former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and his administration and has been followed strictly by the incumbent President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his administration.
According to officials at the Presidential Office, although the industry, as well as the three major opposition parties -- the KMT, the PFP and the New Party -- are all urging the DPP government to loosen the policy, it is unlikely the government will do so due to the current cross-strait situation and the disappointing response to the opening of the "small three links" (
However, senior presidential advisor and former DPP Chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) yesterday criticized the government's policy, saying that Taiwan's economy might break down without the considerable contribution made by Taiwanese businessmen in China.
"It is wrong for the DPP government to solve economic problems by political means," Hsu said yesterday during his speech to a group of Taiwanese businessmen currently investing in China.
"There are only two kinds of economic strategies: the right one and the wrong one, not the local one and the non-local one," Hsu stressed yesterday. "The direction Lee took is clearly the wrong one," Hsu added.
According to Hsu, if the government does not loosen its economic policy soon, the TAIEX index may drop to 2,000 points.
Earlier on Tuesday, the TAIEX index slumped 119.22, or 2.4 percent, to 4785.12 points. The total value of shares traded was NT$36.6 billion, less than half the year-to-date daily average of NT$83.2 billion.
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