Taipei, Nov. 20 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Thursday that his administration is looking forward to normalization of relations between Taiwan and mainland China as soon as possible in order to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Speaking at the Fourth Industrial Elite Award presentation ceremony, Chen said that the door to cross-strait peace must be jointly opened up by both sides but that his administration will never sacrifice the dignity and welfare of the Taiwan people in pursuit of further cross-strait exchanges. "We are hopeful that cross-strait relations will be normalized as soon as possible and we look forward to creating peaceful and stable interaction with the mainland. However, we cannot accept Beijing's continuing military intimidation toward Taiwan while giving the cold shoulder to our goodwill gestures," Chen said.
In his speech, Chen also said that his administration has spared no efforts to carry out far-reaching economic and financial reforms aimed at revitalizing the economy, which has been seriously affected by the global economic sluggishness.
Saying that efforts by the government to improve the economy have paid off, Chen noted that the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in Great Britain has upgraded its evaluation of Taiwan's business environment for the next five years from "good" to "very good."
In the EIU's latest survey report, Taiwan's business environment ranking ascended from 21st in the world in 2002 to 17th-best this year and third-best among Asian nations, showing that the nation's political and economic systems are internationally recognized, " Chen said.
He went on to say that the government has proposed a special budget of NT$500 billion (US$14.7 billion) for 10 major public construction projects to be implemented in the next five years in order to speed up the nation's economic recovery, create more jobs and post a 5-percent economic growth rate in 2004.
Chen claimed that if the major development plans -- including the construction of mass rapid transit systems, elevated railroads and freeways -- can be carried out smoothly, local infrastructure will be further improved and will offer manufacturers a better investment climate.