After announcing late on Wednesday that she was taking a break from the rigors of campaigning, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) was back on Facebook on Thursday, accusing the party of having a “defeatist” attitude.
Hung wrote in a diary-like entry, marking the date and the weather, and talked about a statue of a bodhisattva and its “tranquility and benevolence.”
“I should try to calm down; otherwise, I could not engage in thinking,” she wrote. “Yes, we want to save [those who are] suffering, but how can we do so if we do not have the benevolence and tranquility [of a bodhisattva]? ”
However, it is not easy to have peace of mind “whenever [she] thinks about the predicament that the nation is in,” she wrote.
“It is not that the public does not see the problems, [such as] the [mess] of domestic politics and the prevailing sense of defeatism within the party, but it seems that anxiety, instead of countermeasures, is what all we have. I am deeply apprehensive about this ‘frog slowly being cooked in warm water’ situation. Bodhisattva, can you bestow on me the needed wisdom to attain peace of mind?” she wrote.
Hung has seemingly turned to Facebook as a platform to express her personal thoughts starting on Wednesday, when she posted her decision to temporarily stop her daily campaign activities, stirring speculation that she was planning to give up her candidacy.
Her campaign team rejected the rumors.
According to an anonymous informant who spoke on a CtiTV news show on Thursday night, Hung made the decision to go into “seclusion” after an aide said at a campaign team meeting on Monday that she was no longer an “atypical politician.”
The aide reportedly said that Hung has lately come to “talk like a politician” and turned into a “typical KMT politician.”
The informant said the criticism compelled Hung to reflect on her actions and to seek to find herself. It is also why Hung’s Facebook page has become a more personal reflection of her own thoughts, rather than mere posts of policy announcements and post-event acknowledgements, the person said.
Asked about Hung’s comment about the party’s defeatist attitude, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said that as Hung is now in “seclusion,” people can wait for a full explanation as she promised when she reappears in public.
He added that while there might be differing opinions within the party, he has always stressed the importance of the party standing firm in its beliefs and promoting solidarity.
Chu also rebuffed rumors that Hung has taken a break from campaigning to ask for more resources from party headquarters.
It is “normal” for candidates to have a temporary break for contemplation during a campaign period, he added.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
POLLS CONCERNS: There are concerns within the KMT that a Cheng Li-wun-Xi Jinping meeting could trigger a voter backlash in elections in November Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit next month, her party and Chinese state media reported yesterday. Cheng, who took up her role in November last year, “gladly accepted” the invitation to lead a delegation to China, the KMT said in a statement, confirming a Xinhua news agency report. Cheng “looks forward to joint efforts by both parties to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and work for peace in the Taiwan Strait and greater well-being for people on both sides,” the statement said. Chinese
SIGNIFICANT TO THE WORLD: The delegation’s visit aims to send a clear message that bipartisan support for Taiwan is consistent, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said The US Senate’s bipartisan support for Taiwan remains strong and Taiwan-US ties would continue for decades to come, a US Senate delegation said in Taipei yesterday, while calling on the legislature to swiftly pass a special defense budget bill. A US delegation led by Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican US Senator John Curtis — both members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day visit. The other senators of the delegation included Senate Taiwan Caucus cochair Thom Tillis and Senate Committee on Armed Services senior member Jacky Rosen. Shaheen told a news
RSS