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.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS