Ex-premier says independence is key goal

TAKING A STAND:Yu Shyi-kun said it was not the DPP’s China policy that cost them January’s election and that ‘accepting’ KMT ideology was far more dangerous
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Former premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday said that China affairs are not the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) priority and that the party should focus on the economy, winning a legislative majority and securing its long-term goal of making Taiwan an independent, sovereign nation.

Yu also said he encouraged cross-strait engagement, but had reservations toward former premier Frank Hsieh’s (謝長廷) initiative of “constitutional one china” (憲法一中).

DPP’s Su optimistic US relations can be rebuilt

FRIENDS NOT FOES:Positive responses to visits by DPP officials to the US shows a willingness to pursue better ties with the opposition, a party official said
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is optimistic that its sour relations with the US is in the past and would be rebuilt by better channels of communication regardless of who wins today’s US presidential election, DPP officials said yesterday.

Relations with the US have been one of the priority issues since he took the party’s helm and it would continue to be so, DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told a forum, which previewed the US presidential election, at DPP headquarters.

Tsai tells of key threats to Taiwan during trip to US

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have been advised to be tolerant and to give the Republic of China (ROC) “more space” in acknowledging that the “ROC is Taiwan and Taiwan is [the] ROC,” former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Friday night in New York.

The former DPP presidential candidate made the remark in a speech at the Taiwan Center in Flushing, New York, the last public appearance of her two-week “thank-you” tour of the US, a press release provided by Tsai’s office stated.

Dissident warns DPP over plans to shift China policy

ISOLATED VOICES:：The recent trip to China by Frank Hsieh marks the potential for ‘political suicide’ for the party, writer Yuan Hongbing has said
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Mon, Nov 05, 2012 - Page 3

A Chinese dissident yesterday warned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over a planned shift in position on its China policy and said former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) would lead the party down a path of “political suicide” in his similar attempts to shift plans.

“Beijing has two grand strategies for its absorption of Taiwan. First, economic integration goes before political integration. Second, making the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] another Chinese Communist Party [CCP] and the DPP another KMT,” Yuan Hongbing (袁紅冰) told a forum hosted by Beanstalk, a group founded by former secretary-general of the Presidential Office Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟).

Editorial: Time Ma dropped the numbers game

Fri, Nov 02, 2012 - Page 8

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has always been very fond of numbers, like a scientist or the chief executive of a Fortune 500 company.

He likes numbers so much that when presenting campaign strategies, such as his famous “6-3-3” campaign pledge and the “i-Taiwan 12 projects,” he explained almost everything using 16 Chinese characters or less and tends to describe his achievements using Taiwan’s world ranking according to various reports. This approach makes sense, as numbers are often easier to understand than a 1,000-word text explaining government policies.

Recently, Ma proudly announced that Taiwan ranks 13th in the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index and seventh in the International Institute for Management Development World Competitiveness rankings this year, showing that Taiwan has great potential and “there is no reason to hang our heads low.”

Lawmakers slash subsidies

By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporters

Lawmakers yesterday agreed to slash a NT$97.36 million (US$3.3 million) budget allocated to various benefits in response to criticism that the benefits were not backed by law.

As a result, each of the 113 lawmakers will see his or her budget drop by NT$860,000.

The decision was the result of a meeting Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) called with the caucus whips of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), People First Party and the Taiwan Solidarity Union.

Former president urges pension program review

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter, in Miaoli County

It will take a complete review and reform of various social insurance and pension programs to resolve their financial difficulties, and high-ranking officials should clearly point out the direction of reform, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said in Miaoli County yesterday.

Speaking to the media during a question-and-answer session, Lee said it would be wrong to individually fix or save financially-challenged pension programs, which have sparked heated public discussion recently.

“It would take a thorough review, planning and reform to adjust those programs altogether,” he said.

DGBAS revises GDP growth down again

LIMITED MOMENTUM:：A DGBAS official said the economy has been in a state of ‘anemic growth,’ while the Cabinet said it was cautiously optimistic about next year
By Amy Su  /  Staff reporter
Thu, Nov 01, 2012 - Page 1

The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) yesterday revised downward its GDP growth forecast for this year to 1.05 percent from the 1.66 percent it estimated last month, due to weaker-than-expected momentum in the second half of the year.

It was the ninth straight time the agency has revised downward its forecast for this year’s GDP growth since August last year, when it forecast a 4.58 percent growth rate.

The opposition reacted by saying that a Cabinet reshuffle was now a necessity.

Lee touts vital role of art, religion

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter, in Miaoli County

Art and religion play an equally important role in a country as politics and the economy, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said yesterday in Sanyi Township (三義), Miaoli County.

The 89-year-old former president was speaking to a group of woodcarving artists at Sanyi Woodcarving Museum, saying that art and religion are important in the 21st century because “technology cannot solve everything.”

TSU lawmaker says bad investments behind fund’s woes

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Labor Insurance Fund’s over-investment in the stock market’s electronics and financial sectors was the primary reason for the fund’s losses, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said yesterday.

The Council of Labor Affairs had left out the mismanagement of the fund’s investments when it explained why the fund could go bankrupt in 2016, Hsu told a press conference.