Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) followed established constitutional practice on January 31 by leading his Cabinet in resigning en masse. President Ma Ying-jeou recognized the achievements of Premier Wu and his Cabinet, and expressed his gratitude to Premier Wu for the work he has carried out in the two years and four months since he became premier on September 10, 2009. President Ma lauded the premier's contributions to the nation and his bold spirit in carrying out his responsibilities.
The president said that the nation was facing three critical challenges when Premier Wu took office. These included the threat caused by the outbreak of the H1N1 strain of influenza, the reconstruction work required in the wake of the landslides and flooding in parts of southern and eastern Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot, and the impact of the global financial tsunami. President Ma said that under Premier Wu's steady and pragmatic leadership, challenges associated with these three events were overcome. The outbreak of the flu strain was brought under control, post-disaster reconstruction work was carried out, and an economic recovery unfolded.
Discussing the outbreak of the H1N1 strain of influenza, the president remarked that after the outbreak of this flu strain in other parts of the world, the government obtained the virus strain from the World Health Organization and began producing vaccine here. Some 75% of the nation's youth under the age of 18 were vaccinated, while 25% of the total population received the vaccination. This level of vaccination ranked Taiwan fifth in the world, on a par with the United States. President Ma commented that this was quite an accomplishment, and a concrete demonstration of the tremendous ability of Premier Wu and his Cabinet.
As for the reconstruction work in the wake of the devastation caused by Typhoon Morakot in early August 2009, the president said that cooperation between the government and private charitable organizations enabled reconstruction work to be completed in a timely manner. The vast majority of disaster victims, he said, have been relocated in spacious, sturdy, and airy permanent housing. The Cabinet also made good on its pledge to the president that it would rebuild Xiaolin Village while he was still in office. President Ma remarked that these accomplishments enabled the world to see another facet of the "Taiwan experience." This experience is still ongoing, he pointed out, mentioning that this not only refers to the successful cooperation between the government and private sector. The government also turned to this model in funneling assistance to Haiti in its reconstruction effort after a devastating earthquake there in 2010 . President Ma noted that former United States President Bill Clinton praised Taiwan's accomplishments in this respect when he visited Taiwan.
In terms of Taiwan's economic recovery, the president stressed that Premier Wu's team implemented a wide variety of important fiscal and economic policies that helped Taiwan's economy begin to stage a recovery after bottoming out in the fourth quarter of 2009. In 2010, Taiwan recorded GDP growth of 10.72%, which was the highest level in 24 years. At the same time, inflationary pressure has been kept in check at below 1.5%. Taiwan's unemployment rate has gradually fallen from a peak of 6.13% in August of 2009 to 4.18% in December of last year. The unemployment rate in 2011 averaged 4.39%, he said. Under Premier Wu's stewardship, the number of unemployed (as of the end of 2011), had declined by nearly 200,000 persons, the president pointed out, furthermore noting that the number of employed persons rose by over 520,000. President Ma said he believes that the work of Premier Wu and his team has been concretely reflected in a wide variety of economic indicators here.
President Ma then turned his attention to the wealth gap. He mentioned that the government has chalked up achievements in terms of ensuring a just distribution of wealth. The income of the most affluent as a multiple of the least affluent 20% has fallen from a factor of 6.34 to 6.19 times. This figure is better than comparable data from other advanced nations, and also is among the lowest in East Asia, but the government is not resting on its laurels. It will continue working to close the wealth gap in the future.
President Ma believes that under Premier Wu's leadership, the Cabinet has put into place many effective economic policies, and the benefits of these policies are coming to the fore, especially in terms of the drop in the unemployment rate and the closing of the wealth gap. In addition to those accomplishments, major amendments to the Public Assistance Act were enacted, which raised the poverty line. Nearly 600,000 people have benefited from these amendments, he said. Furthermore, President Ma noted that the Cabinet reacted quickly to the scandal involving plasticizer-tainted food additives here. It also passed five bills aimed at ensuring residential justice, while also instituting a luxury tax. Each one of these measures points to the efforts made by the premier and his team, said the president, who expressed his full gratitude and appreciation to Premier Wu and the entire Cabinet for their efforts over two-plus years in office. He also stated that he hopes Premier Wu will continue to demonstrate his commitment to the nation and service to the public in his new position as ROC vice president.
After the Cabinet on January 31 resigned en masse, President Ma decided to appoint current Vice Premier Sean C. Chen (陳冲) to assume the premiership, and Vice Premier Chen has accepted this appointment. President Ma said that Vice Premier Chen has a high degree of financial, economic, and legal expertise, and has a strong background in the private and public sectors. He has worked closely with Premier Wu and the private sector in successfully planning measures to counter the financial tsunami. In addition, he was instrumental in promoting the signing of cross-strait memorandums of understanding on financial supervisory cooperation, relaxing rules on investment here by mainland Chinese banks, and helping to steady the Taiwan stock market. President Ma said he is confident that Vice Premier Chen will continue to exercise his expertise and make the best use of his experience to help Taiwan counter any ill effects from the European debt crisis.