The three presidential candidates crossed swords on issues ranging from cross-strait policy, the economy and administrative competency in the second of three televised platform presentation forums last night.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chose “rectitude” as his theme, stressing that people’s trust was the most valuable government asset and corruption was the strongest corrosive of such an asset.
Ma asked why the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) proposed “10-year policy” did not contain the word “rectitude.”
Photo: Taipei Times
“Is it because rectitude is not important for Taiwan’s future, or because rectitude is, for Tsai and the DPP, a hot coal they dare not touch?” Ma asked.
Ma said the biggest difference between him and Tsai was that he met doubt and questions with clear explanations, but Tsai continued to avoid burning issues.
Tsai said that in the past four years the image of Ma in the eyes of the people had become that of a president that did not empathize with the people, and did not listen to others.
“What we carry with us is people’s expectations, not our own image,” Tsai said, alluding to her criticism of Ma that the latter only cares about his image and not the people’s problems.
Addressing the so-called “1992 consensus” issue, Tsai said that while Ma insisted on the existence of the consensus, he was also terrorizing the people of Taiwan by saying that if they did not accept the consensus all would be lost.
“Why can you not tell the people, President Ma, what price Taiwan has paid for accepting the ‘1992 consensus?’” she asked.
Tsai said she had faith in her proposed “Taiwan consensus” because it would follow a democratic procedure and would accept many opinions, which would dissolve the differences in Taiwan.
Refering to the allegation that the Ma administration has used investigation and intelligence agencies to monitor her campaign, Tsai asked Ma whether he “dare to ask the Bureau of Investigation to bring out the original documents.”
Ma stressed he has not issued a directive to monitor her nor has he received information from investigation and intelligence agencies on any surveillance of the opposition camps’ campaigns.
James Soong (宋楚瑜) of the People First Party referred to how his post-presentation news conference after the first forum was omitted by the state-run Chinese Television System (CTS), saying the attitude shown by the CTS and the Central Election Commission in handling the oversight was “typical bureaucratism.”
“It is this kind of bureaucratic attitude that makes the people want change, want to see what somebody else would do,” he said.
Pointing to the labels “corrupt” for the former DPP Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) government and “incompetent” for the current Ma administration, Soong said that nobody ever heard of the provincial team serving under him being corrupt or incompetent.
“Voters should not vote for corruption or incompetence, but for my team, which is capable of delivering on their promises,” he added.
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