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
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
LEISURE: The new law adds Confucius’ birthday, the anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou, Constitution Day and Little New Year as national holidays The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed new legislation adding four national holidays and making Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party used their combined majority in the legislature to push the jointly proposed draft through its third and final reading. This new law supersedes the existing regulations for the implementation of memorial days and state holidays, which are administered by the Ministry of the Interior. The new law recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou on Oct. 25, Constitution Day on Dec. 25 and “Little New Year,”
RSS