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Updated Thursday, July 31, 2008 0:00 am TWN, Dr. William Fang, Special to The China Post MAC’s Lai should defend her stanceAccording to Premier Liu, he told Lai during his first meeting with her that the MAC should play the role of “balancing relaxation with tightening,” aiming high and far, which needs astute wisdom and great resilience. Even though the tightening of mainland policies do have their justification, the undeniable fact is that after practicing them in the years since the days of President Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan has become weaker, not stronger, as confirmed by various indicators. Now, in terms of economic strength, all indications point to the slippage of Taiwan from the No. 1 ranking to the last of Asia’s “four small dragons.” Some even claim that Taiwan actually ranks behind countries such as India and Thailand. With the inauguration of the Ma administration, it is time for Taiwan to try to pursue another course, which is the policy of “opening up with caution.” It is reported that Lai did frequently act as a “brake” in mainland policy debates, and in many cases she had President Ma’s ear. Therefore, Lai should quickly switch her position to become more aggressive by forcefully expounding the logic of government measures and what she has done during the process of policy-making. |
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