Monday, February 07, 2011

President instructs Cabinet to be on full alert in 2011

Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) President Ma Ying-jeou wasted no time in the young Year of the Rabbit to urge his administration Monday to be "on alert at all times" and to place wealth distribution high on their policy agenda.

Speaking on the last day of the six-day Lunar New Year holiday, Ma addressed a wide range of issues, among them economics, flood control, cross-Taiwan Strait development and public communication, to dozens of high-ranking officials from his administration and the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) , in his first spring tea party since his inauguration in May 2008.

Vice President Vincent Siew, Premier Wu Den-yih, Vice Premier Sean Chen, National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-chen and all the members of the Cabinet attended the closed-door party held at the National Defense University.

Ma told the officials that the government's task in the coming year is not only to maintain the economic recovery, which he said was felt by the public last year, but also improve the distribution of wealth, according to Lo Chih-chiang, spokesman of the Presidential Office.

Public communication will be important for his administration in the new year, Lo quoted Ma as saying, as "press releases by government agencies are sometimes less efficient than public comments and explanations from relevant government officials."

The development of cross-Taiwan Strait relations since Ma's inauguration, including 15 agreements signed between Taiwan and China, has been rapid "because the stagnancy of bilateral relations during the previous administration jeopardized the interests of the people of Taiwan, " Ma was quoted as saying.

Following the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement last June, Ma said, there are still many issues to be resolved this year, including investment protection, a dispute settlement mechanism and agreements on trade in services and goods, according to Lo. (By Garfie Li and Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J