Opposition parties yesterday criticized the policies of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) ahead of a speech she has planned for this morning to mark seven years in office, while the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) separately defended her record.
The Tsai administration has established 30 “national teams” and 10 “special project offices,” but has had little to offer in terms of policy implementation and actual governance, Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) told a news conference in Taipei.
The appointment of people who lack professional knowledge to task forces is a sign of politics superseding professionalism, Chiu said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The DPP must face internal administration and foreign diplomacy challenges instead of attempting to rule by sloganeering, he said, urging the administration to focus on traffic safety, economic growth, helping industry and improving diplomacy.
New Power Party (NPP) Chairwoman Claire Wang (王婉諭) said that while the Tsai administration should be commended for upholding the nation’s autonomy and performing well on the diplomatic front, its double standards on government corruption have been a failure.
Honesty and public integrity are the least the public can expect from politicians, Wang said, adding that the DPP, as the majority party in the legislature, must take full responsibility for government failures.
The only way to ensure government oversight would be to deny the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative majorities, she said.
Taiwan Statebuilding Party Chairman Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) said that the Tsai administration performed well regarding COVID-19 prevention, but its social reforms were lackluster, while its national defense platforms were outright failures.
Tsai’s performance over the past seven years has been a letdown for the younger generation that voted for her, KMT Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said, citing polls from the Foundation for the People. Chiang is chairman of the foundation.
Despite being elected on promises to make Taiwan a better place for young people, Tsai received an average of 4.03 out of 10 among respondents under 40 years old, Chiang said.
The poll was conducted on Facebook from Monday to Wednesday targeting people aged 20 or older. It garnered 1,200 valid responses and claimed a margin of error of 2.83 percentage points and a confidence level of 95 percent.
Tsai is to give a speech at 9am today focusing on thanking people for their support and the Cabinet for its hard work, and affirming that the government’s efforts over the past seven years have redefined Taiwan and allowed the international community to see the nation in a new light, the Presidential Office said.
The speech would also touch on Taiwan’s pivotal role in the global supply chain and its critical location in the region’s geopolitics, it said.
At a separate news conference, DPP legislators touted the administration’s work.
The Tsai administration oversaw multiple hikes of the minimum wage, increased the tax waiving threshold for unmarried people to NT$416,000 (US$13,559) from NT$303,000 and increased rental subsidies to NT$300 billion last year from NT$2 billion in 2016, DPP Legislator Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that the nation’s defense industry has improved greatly under Tsai and that the national defense budget comprised 2 percent of GDP.
The level of international support for Taiwan is unprecedented and one of the reasons for this achievement is the success of the government’s policies, DPP Legislator Lo Chi-cheng (羅致政) said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by