Gov't faces big challenges after holiday

“Following such a framework not only is not a sign of weakness, it helps underline the R.O.C.'s sovereignty and subjectivity,” Wang said.

The topic is sensitive, however, because Ma's predecessors — Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian — both referred to relations with China as “state-to-state” relations.

But in his effort to improve relations with Taiwan's long-time rival, Ma has backed away from that formula, instead referring consistently to Taiwan and China as the “two sides” of the Taiwan Strait within the context of cross-strait relations.

According to the newspaper report, the Presidential Office press release stated that Ma described Taiwan and China as the “two countries” when discussing a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China with visiting U.S. Representative James Sensenbrenner on Wednesday.

The words “two countries” were later removed from the press release posted on the Presidential Office Web site and changed to “the two sides,” according to the newspaper.

On Wednesday, Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, said that concluding a proposed ECFA with China will be more complicated than President Ma suggests.

Campaigning for Hsiao Bi-khim, the DPP candidate in the Feb. 27 legislative by-election in eastern Hualien, Tsai said that while visiting townships and villages in Hualien over the past few weeks, she sensed grave concern over lost job opportunities and the exodus of job seekers.

Tsai stressed that Taiwan's sovereignty and employment opportunities should be the main concerns of the government as it seeks to maintain a stable relationship with China.

The opposition party leader said that she found it very helpful to meet people at the grassroots level face-to-face to learn their worries and concerns.

Tsai has been campaigning for DPP candidates in the four legislative by-elections to be held in Hualien, Chiayi, Hsinchu, and Taoyuan counties on Feb. 27.

Besides the U.S. beef imports and ECFA issues, the Cabinet is also facing challenges concerning amending the organizational laws related to different ministries and units under the reorganized government system well in time, so that the all the new ministries and units can be officially operational on Jan. 1, 2012.

Among other challenges are how to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu virus and how to counter the serious water shortage in southern Taiwan.

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