Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said yesterday presidential candidates from opposition forces should stand firm on Taiwan’s sovereignty and denied ever suggesting that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should team up in the presidential election next year.
On his Facebook page, Lee said the opposition parties should choose presidential candidates that will insist on the nation’s sovereignty, strive for the future of the nation and be able to win the battle against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who will seek re-election.
“We need to unite and make Taiwan’s interests the priority in order to abandon Ma, save Taiwan and expand our support base. I was talking about the principles, and not about whether political parties or any politicians should team up for the election,” Lee said.
The former president posted his comments on Facebook a day after Japanese magazine WiLL ran an interview.
In the interview published on Thursday, Lee was quoted as saying that the timing wasn’t ripe for DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to run for president and he suggested that the DPP could choose a vice presidential -candidate to pair up with a KMT presidential candidate.
He was also quoted in the interview as saying that Tsai might risk repeating the mistakes of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and would be unable to carry out policies in a minority government if she ran for president next year.
Lee said yesterday that it did not matter how the presidential and vice presidential candidates are chosen or whether political parties cooperate in the presidential election next year.
“For the battle in 2012, pro--localization forces should unite and take over power with an absolute majority so we can continue reform, promote Taiwan consciousness and pursue Taiwan’s normalization,” he said in the Facebook post.
Commenting on the subject, KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday said the party would not discuss candidates for the presidential election at this time, because it was focusing its efforts on improving the lives of the public as the ruling party.
“Thinking about the arrangements for the 2012 presidential candidates is against public expectations. The KMT’s priority is to improve people’s lives and strive for economic prosperity,” he said.
DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌), meanwhile, said yesterday that the DPP has its own nomination system for choosing a presidential candidate.
Lin said a meeting has been set for Jan. 22 for the DPP to discuss its nomination mechanism and other matters concerning next year’s presidential campaign.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2