Despite the nation’s serious political partisanship, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that a consensus over President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) ineptitude has formed between the pan-green and pan-blue camps while announcing her five reform proposals.
“Negative sentiment on Ma’s governance has become a consensus between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, as even Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) has said publicly that his administration’s performance has been disagreeable, triggering complaints from the public,” Tsai said at a campaign rally in Kaohsiung.
“That an incumbent president should be described in such a fashion by his own party’s presidential candidate is pitiful,” Tsai added.
Photo: CNA
Tsai said now is the time for the entire nation to stand united, as Ma’s government has failed to solve a number of challenges facing the nation, including an aging population, the design of a 12-year compulsory education plan and low starting salaries for college graduates; instead, it has created more problems.
“While my opponents are trying to rally their parties, I am trying to rally the entire nation,” Tsai said. “There will certainly be pain in the process of reform, but giving up on reforms because of fear of pain shows poor leadership.”
“I will win people’s hearts with reform, even if that means upsetting vested interests, because I should be responsible for the nation’s future, not for those of vested interests,” she said.
Tsai received a warm welcome from a cheering crowd of more than 1,500 when she appeared at a rally at the International Convention Center Kaohsiung with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who is Tsai’s campaign manager.
Tsai used the occasion to announce her five reform proposals: restoring justice for the young generation, improving government efficiency, reforming the legislature, pursuing transitional justice and ending social polarization.
“It is especially important, but very hard, to end social polarization. However, that is the responsibility of the nation’s leader,” Tsai said. “I promise that, even if the DPP wins a majority in the legislature, we will not ‘take the entire bowl.’ We will form an alliance with progressive forces to attract more people into the reform movement.”
Chen said that what people in Kaohsiung most complain about is the unbalanced development between north and south, adding: “We have to speak with our votes next year to not only get Tsai elected, but also secure a DPP majority in the legislature.”
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
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
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
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
RSS