Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) vowed yesterday not to relax limits on Chinese agricultural imports if the KMT regains power in next month's election.
"It is an aspersion to claim that the KMT will allow the import of Chinese agricultural products. I assure you all that we will not open up the import market if elected," Siew said at the campaign headquarters in Chiayi County.
He condemned the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for spreading rumors.
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also dismissed the accusations and promised to help export Taiwanese fruit to China and protect local farmers' rights if elected.
"Some said that I will sell Taiwan out if elected. I will not sell the nation out, but I will sell Taiwan's fruit to China because the quality of our fruit is excellent," Ma said at the Chiayi headquarters.
Both men denied DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (
Hsieh said on Wednesday that the KMT's proposed "one China market" would create more unemployment and lower salaries in Taiwan and lead the nation to unification with China.
His team made the same criticism at a press conference yesterday, condemning Siew for being the architect of the "cross-strait common market" but refusing to take responsibility for it.
Hsieh spokesman Hsiao Bi-khim (
Tuan Yi-kang (
Siew said yesterday Hsieh's camp had twisted his words, insisting that he has never used the "one China market" when discussing his cross-strait economic platform.
"The term was created by the DPP to make false accusations. The KMT has proposed a `cross-strait common market' aimed at creating a win-win economic situation across the Taiwan Strait," he said.
He said the "cross-strait common market" was aimed at enhan-cing mutual benefits and economic cooperation across the Strait. It followed the example of the EU model, but was not an exact copy since Taiwan's relations with China were very different from those between European nations, he said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
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