TAIWAN'S six-year development plan announced two years ago was filled with sound and fury, with its US$300 billion spending spree aimed at dragging the island's infrastructure into the 21st century.
However, it is becoming rapidly apparent that the plan signifies less than the noise suggested.
The Government is discussing a substantial cut in the NT$786 billion (about HK$231 billion) budget for the plan next year in the face of a borrowing squeeze.
It will also soon announce the results of a review of the plan, which will postpone work on some grandiose projects.
This looks set to turn the plan back into a collection of projects that were under way in 1991, before then prime minister Hau Pei-tsun announced 771 separate project proposals to be undertaken during President Lee Teng-hui's six-year term.
It seems now that it was little more than a publicity stunt - but a successful one.
