Taiwan president takes on opposition deputies

President Chen Sui-bian

November 28, 2000
Web posted at: 11:28 AM HKT (0328 GMT)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) -- From romanization of Chinese characters to laborers' working hours, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has taken on a hostile opposition-dominated legislature which has angrily blocked his initiatives.

Legislative gridlock has dented business confidence and sent share prices tumbling since Chen assumed office in May in Taiwan's first ever democratic transfer of power, casting a cloud over the island's otherwise sound economic fundamentals.

In the most recent example of government policy disarray, the Cabinet on Sunday asked Education Minister Ovid Tzeng to reconsider his recommendation that Taiwan adopt rival China's pinyin system for romanising Chinese characters.

The decision added a new twist to a domestic political scene already complicated by partisan politics. It angered opposition deputies, who espouse eventual reunification with China.

Chen's Democratic Progressive Party supports independence, but he has mellowed his stand staving off Chinese invasion threats.

A Ministry committee had suggested the island adopt the indigenous Tongyong system, invented by a group of Taiwan linguists who say their version accommodates the pronunciation of dialects such as Taiwanese and Hakka.

But Tzeng supported China's pinyin system, saying it was more widely used in the rest of the world.

Reversal on working hours

In another policy flip-flop last week, the Cabinet decided to revise a rule to cut weekly working hours to 44 from the current 48, overturning the legislature's two-week, 84-hour proposal.

The Cabinet had counted on the move to help boost flagging business confidence, but instead it alienated workers, many of whom voted for Chen because of his pro-labor stance.

"They sacrificed our rights and we find that completely unacceptable," said labor activist Wang Chuan-ping, who organized protests last week.

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung defended the decision, saying the legislature's version would be difficult to swallow for industries struggling to survive in a slowing economy.

"Ultimately our aim is to protect workers' rights," Chang said, citing slower economic growth and rising unemployment rate.

A weaker business climate pushed Taiwan's joblessness to a 14-month high of 3.19 percent in October.

The new government had hoped to make good on Chen's campaign promise by proposing to cut weekly working hours to 44.

But the plan took an unexpected turn when opposition deputies approved a more generous two-week, 84-hour version, triggering complaints from the business community.

The twists underscored Chen's difficulty in pushing initiatives through the legislature, still dominated by the Nationalist Party despite its humiliating defeat in the March election that ended its five-decade lock on the presidency.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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