The latest Asia edition of Time magazine is to print an interview with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) — with the cover to feature her photograph — introducing her political background, while portraying her as a confident politician with a sense of humor.
“My purpose in giving the interview was to allow the international community to understand Taiwanese determination to defend values of democracy, and I’m glad that Time chose to make it a cover story and speak so much about the nation’s democratic development,” Tsai said on the sidelines of a campaign event in New Taipei City. “During the interview, I specially reminded the international community to pay attention to recent developments in Taiwan, especially after the Sunflower movement last year. Society now has a different expectation of the future.”
With the headline: “She could lead the only Chinese [sic] democracy,” a Time subheadline is to say: “That could make Beijing nervous.”
Photo: CNA
Tsai said it is a shared responsibility across the Taiwan Strait to maintain peace and stability.
“We want the international community to understand that it is everyone’s shared responsibility to maintain peace and stability,” Tsai said. “We especially stressed the DPP’s determination to maintain cross-strait peace and stability, and we hope everyone will work together to enhance stability and peace across the Taiwan Strait.”
In the interview, Tsai said that she would try to maintain the cross-strait “status quo,” while putting “Taiwan’s economy, development and culture first” in her policy platforms if elected.
She said that her policies would be Taiwan-centric, as opposed to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) focus on pushing for new trade and tourism pacts with China.
The report said Tsai was “vague” on the independence-unification issue, as it was not made clear whether the DPP would repeal its stance on independence. On the issue of unificaiton, Tsai said: “It is something you have to resolve democratically — it is a decision to be made by the people.”
The interview said Tsai expressed confidence over her election chances.
Emily Rauhala, a Time reporter in Beijing who penned the article, said that Tsai offered her the last piece of tuna while they were at a Taiwanese-Japanese fusion restaurant in Kaohsiung and said: “Go back to Beijing and tell them you were served by the next president of Taiwan.”
“Tsai is quietly confident that she will gain the trust of Taiwan’s voters and secure victory, whatever Beijing might think,” Rauhala said.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
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
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central