The Presidential Office yesterday complained that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had too little time to prepare for today’s debate with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said Ma has been busy with state affairs, meetings and other engagements, leaving him with very little time to prepare for the debate.
Recently, Ma has been preoccupied with dealing with the physical clashes that broke out between lawmakers at the legislature, visiting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators who were injured during the incident and settling the dispute between the ruling and opposition parties over the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), Lo said.
“The president has only two hours to prepare for the debate and discuss details with his advisers,” Lo said. “Sometimes he has to do the preparation at night because he is too busy during the day. It is very hard to do it at night because he is extremely tired at the end of the day.”
To better prepare himself for today’s debate, Ma did not attend any public functions on Friday or yesterday.
Tsai, on the other hand, was in a better position than Ma, Lo said, adding that Tsai could “wait at ease for the fatigued.”
Lo said that because of Ma’s fatigue and the DPP’s expertise in packaging, many people predicted that Tsai would perform better than Ma during the debate. Lo said he believed, however, that it would be easier for Ma to win the public trust with his “unadorned sincerity.”
Lo said Ma had become very familiar with the details of the policy by consulting with experts over the past one year.
As long as Ma said what he believed and remained consistent in his argument, he would prove that Tsai was being “two faced,”acting like an academic but actually being a politician, Lo said.
The debate, which will begin at 2pm and end at 4:30pm today, will be broadcast live on Public Television System and its affiliated channels. Ma and Tsai will each make opening remarks and closing summations as well as ask and respond to five questions and issue five additional rebuttals. They will each hold a press conference right after the debate.
In his weekly video address yesterday, Ma vowed to forge ahead with the Taiwan-China trade pact, saying the administration “will definitely” sign the proposed accord because it is conducive to Taiwan and its people.
Meanwhile, at a separate setting, DPP spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said Tsai Ing-wen was maintaining her usual daily routine yesterday, except that she would go to bed early for a well-rested sleep ahead of today’s debate. Aside from taking part in events that had been previously scheduled, Tsai Ing-wen yesterday also spent some time with aides going over the debate one last time, Tsai Chi-chang said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Also See: PRC agricultural products not on early harvest list
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS