By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is to celebrate its 26th anniversary today, with DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) telling foreign diplomatic corps at a reception party yesterday that the party would work hard to win back public’s trust and return to power.
“What Taiwanese wish to see is a government that can walk the walk, that doesn’t skirt its responsibilities and that is capable of governing,” Su told dozens of foreign representatives.
TAKING A STAND:The TSU cited the poor performance of public servants in charge of economic affairs as a reason for the boycott
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would again boycott Premier Sean Chen’s scheduled report to the Legislative Yuan today, the parties said yesterday.
The TSU would occupy the podium on the legislative floor and boycott Chen’s report until Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-hsiang (施顏祥) and Council for Economic Planning and Development Minister Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) are replaced, TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) told a press conference.
By Chris Wang and Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporters
The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) board’s decision to make its chairman a paid position showed the appointment of Lin Join-sane (林中森) was a “political reward,” DPP lawmakers said yesterday.
A SEF board meeting yesterday confirmed the appointment of Lin and amended its organizational regulations, changing the position without remuneration to a paid position, DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), who serves as a board member of the foundation, told a press conference.
Former SEF chairpeople, including outgoing Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), worked for the foundation, which functioned as a negotiation institution for cross-strait affairs, without pay.
PLANNING AHEAD:Former DPP chairperson Tsai said the government should take action to stimulate GDP growth to meet the requirements for a wage increase
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
If the government insists that its decision to set prerequisites for a minimum wage hike was legitimate, it should adopt the same requirement for government officials’ ‘salary schemes, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday.
The Executive Yuan on Wednesday put off a plan to raise the minimum monthly wage by NT$267 (US$9.10), with Premier Sean Chen saying that wages would be raised only if GDP grows by more than 3 percent for two quarters in a row or the unemployment rate drops below 4 percent for two consecutive months.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The credibility and approval ratings of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) have dropped to the lowest point since his first-term inauguration in 2008, with more than 45 percent of respondents in a public opinion poll released yesterday in favor of recalling Ma.
The president’s credibility rating is now at 23.6 percent and his approval rating is at 16.5 percent, both new lows, with 71.7 percent of the respondents saying they were unsatisfied with his performance, the poll conducted by Taiwan Indicator Research Survey (TIRS) showed.
KEY POWER:Holding a majority in the legislature will enable the party to determine the direction of the country’s progress, the former premier said
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is ready to draw up a plan that would lead to an unprecedented achievement — winning a legislative majority in 2016, the party said yesterday.
Former premier Yu Shyi-kun, a member of the DPP’s Central Standing Committee (CSC), presented the proposal at the committee’s weekly meeting yesterday and received overwhelming support.
The DPP has never held a majority in the Legislative Yuan since its establishment in 1986.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
A state-controlled fertilizer company is selling “watered-down” Chinese fertilizer and has become a place where retired officials and former lawmakers can earn huge salaries, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators said yesterday.
Taiwan Fertilizer Co (Taifer) sells poor-quality imported Chinese fertilizer despite being the largest fertilizer manufacturer and distributor in Taiwan, DPP Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) told a press conference.
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had a slight fever which could be related to an infection, his son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), said yesterday.
Chen Chih-chung broke the news in a Facebook post, saying the cause behind his father’s illness has yet to be determined, but it could be related to a urinary tract infection.
Meanwhile, former Northern Taiwan Society director Janice Chen (陳昭姿) blasted the Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH), where Chen is staying for treatment, for not disclosing medical information to a group of physicians who are also the former president’s supporters.
TEA EGGONOMICS:：The DPP said the government was too stingy to allow a raise that would give people just enough money to buy an additional tea egg each day
By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporters
Thu, Sep 27, 2012 - Page 1
Premier Sean Chen yesterday turned down a proposal to increase the monthly minimum wage next year, leading to an announcement by Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) that she would step down.
At a meeting of the legislature’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, Wang, in tears, announced that she would resign upon learning that Chen had told a press conference in the Executive Yuan in the afternoon that the minimum wage would remain the same, although the minimum hourly wage would be raised.
TIED FATE:According to experts, it is unlikely China would impose economic sanctions against Taiwan because 14 million Chinese are employed by Taiwanese businesspeople
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
China’s economic growth is slowing down, but the country’s economy is unlikely to collapse in the near future, nor is the rising power likely to impose economic sanctions against Taiwan or Japan, experts said at a forum yesterday.
China’s economy would not collapse in the near future, because Chinese officials are very much aware of the problems they are facing and have sufficient policy tools and resources on hand to handle a possible crisis, the experts concluded.