• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Taiwan faces four potential crises: legislative speaker

ROC Central News Agency

2008-04-02 22:15:44

    Taipei, April 2 (CNA) Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng said Wednesday that the incoming administration of President-elect Ma Ying-jeou will face four crises, including a dire financial situation.

    Wang made the remarks while addressing a seminar for CEOs in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, at the invitation of the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission.

    In addition to the present ethnic divisions, tense cross-strait relations, bipartisan squabbling and slow economic development, the nation also faces several crises that pose potential threats to its development, Wang said.

    He said that since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took office in 2000, Taiwan's economic development has stalled.

    Taiwan has slipped to last place among the "four dragons," he said, referring to Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea as the other three dragons.

    But at a time of stalled economic development and drastic decreases in tax revenues, the government's debts have continued to climb, he said. "Each citizen had to shoulder nearly NT$200,000 (US$5,520) in government debts, " Wang said, adding that the nation is in dire financial straits.

    With slower economic development, local investors have become more guarded, unemployment remains high, and the gap between rich and poor has widened, he said, adding that Taiwan is becoming an "M-shaped society."

    The jobless rate remains between 3 and 4 percent, and consumers are becoming more cautious in their spending, an attitude that he said will impact on domestic demand as people become poorer.

    The last factor is that the nation risks being marginalized in international community, Wang said, noting that since 2000, politics has taken precedence in public life.

    The DPP administration has promoted crafting a new constitution, renamed state-own enterprises to drop "China" from their titles, removed statues of the late President Chiang Kai-shek and other legacies of his rule, and promoted referendums for U.N. membership under the name Taiwan, he stated. "These acts have more or less resulted in shrinking international support for Taiwan," he said.

(By Lilian Wu)

enditem/ pc