Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) called for solidarity as he was sworn in as party chairman yesterday.
"We lost in the first half of the game, but we must win back confidence, hope and integrity in the second half," he said, referring to the legislative elections last Saturday and the presidential election on March 22.
Hsieh said the party had its back to the wall.
"We can only march forward and work hard," he said. "We are in a similar state to when the party was established 20 years ago. Apart from a nearly meaningless minority in the legislature, we have nothing. We must fight to survive."
Hsieh said he realized the presidential contest would be a tough one and expected the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to exploit the results of the legislative elections.
Saying the DPP had no option but to unite, Hsieh said the onus was on the party to convince the public that a divided government could function.
RATIONALIZATION
During the party Central Executive Committee meeting that followed the swearing-in ceremony, Hsieh asked the party's newly elected legislators-at-large to establish joint service centers in light of the fact that the party's number of seats had been dramatically reduced.
Hsieh also asked the Executive Yuan to work out a plan to subsidize low-income individuals who cannot afford to pay their health insurance bills.
The committee, meanwhile, agreed that former DPP legislator Tuan Yi-kang (
Amid calls for certain Cabinet officials to be held responsible for the party's elections defeat, DPP Central Standing Committee member Huang Ching-lin (
inappropriate
Hsieh said after the committee meeting that it was inappropriate to apportion blame and that those bent on doing so should not be involved in the party's presidential campaign.
He likened these critics to camels in a caravan that were too tired, hungry or thirsty to continue.
Huang Ching-lin said Hsieh's comment was inappropriate and urged the presidential candidate to keep everyone onboard for the sake of party unity.
Hsieh said he had not addressed his comment at anyone in particular.
DPP Cultural and Information Department Director Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) said the party would listen to the public and it was meaningless to hold anyone accountable for the election defeat.
"We could have criticized ourselves and debated where we went wrong, but we don't have much time for that because the presidential election is looming," she said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS