Vice President Annette Lu on August 10 attended a symposium on the development of Taipei County, in which she exchanged her thoughts with the participants, hoping they will be instrumental in the county's development.
She said in the symposium that local governments have been badly in debt since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) assumed power; for example, they suffered a total deficit of NT$509.2 billion in 2004, twice as the amount in 2000, which stood at NT$257.9 billion. "The previous government and the current one are both responsible for this extended deficit," she said, adding that the ruling Green Camp and the opposition Blue Camp should work together to resolve the problem.
She then brought up her proposal again on the re-definition and re-division of Taiwan's administrative districts, suggesting to divide the island into four provinces and two special administrative regions. The result, according to her, will be more adapted to the spatial revolution entailed by the Taiwan High Speed Rail, scheduled to be in operation this October.
After the symposium, the vice president also inspected the Banqiao Station of the county, which is designed as one of the hubs for the high-speed rail, the rail, and the mass rapid transit system, and the county's emergency response center for typhoons.