Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday announced that he would not be President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) running mate in next year’s presidential election, adding that it was the “best decision” he could make for the president and the nation.
In an open letter on Facebook, Chen said that by next year he would have completed what he had signed up for when he agreed to join the Tsai administration almost four years ago.
To help the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) remain in power, ensure the survival of Taiwan’s sovereignty and transform the economy, the party needs to unite to give Tsai its support, he said.
Photo: CNA
It has been a pleasure to take on the responsibility of reform, which has not been an easy path, but the criticism the DPP has faced in the more than three years since it won power were a necessary price to pay for reform, he said.
He entered politics to be the humblest of civil servants, so that Taiwan could become a better nation and people could have better lives, he added.
Chen said he hopes the public would cherish Tsai, who has always been “brave in doing the right thing,” and that the DPP would have the wisdom to make the correct decisions to keep Taiwan a free, democratic, prosperous and strong nation.
Although he would assume a different role, his thoughts would remain with the party, he said, adding that he had informed Tsai of his decision.
Chen’s announcement has reportedly raised anticipation among DPP members of a Tsai-Lai ticket, after former premier William Lai (賴清德) on Monday last week also registered for the party’s presidential primary.
Tsai, who also registered for the party’s primary last week, expressed her gratitude to Chen on Facebook, adding that she was impressed that his decision was made for the sake of party unity.
Several DPP lawmakers yesterday said the party has the best prospect of winning next year’s presidential election with a Tsai-Lai ticket.
DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) said that Chen Chien-jen’s move paved the way for a Tsai-Lai ticket and applauded his decision at this “critical juncture.”
DPP Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) said that a Tsai-Chen Chien-jen ticket is not yet impossible, as the outcome would ultimately depend on the decision of each candidate.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) praised Chen Chien-jen’s “selfless” move, saying that it was meant to facilitate coordination among the party’s presidential hopefuls.
However, DPP Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文), who has openly expressed his support for Lai, said that Lai is unlikely to drop out of the primary, as he has a strong sense of responsibility and his supporters would not approve of such a move.
INCURSION: After 13 PLA aircraft flew into Taiwan’s ADIZ, the US Department of State said that China should rather ‘engage in meaningful dialogue’ with Taiwan US President Joe Biden’s administration on Saturday urged China to stop placing military pressure on Taiwan, while calling on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage in peaceful dialogue. The statement by the US Department of State was issued after 13 Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said. The air force scrambled fighter jets to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets until the planes left the ADIZ. The US “notes
‘INCREASED VIGILANCE’: A source of infection has not yet been found for the latest two cases in a hospital cluster, which should serve as a warning, Chen Shih-chung said A total of 2,991 people associated with a COVID-19 cluster infection at Taoyuan General Hospital have been put under home isolation, after an emergency expanded isolation order was issued on Sunday evening, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Fifteen people have so far tested positive in the cluster infection. The first case in the cluster (case No. 838) was reported on Jan. 12 — a doctor who treated an infected patient who had returned from the US. Contact tracing for the first 13 cases found connections to case No. 838, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who
FAMILY UNIT: The CECC warned that the eldest sister of the latest case, who also has COVID-19, visited Taoyuan’s Chungping evening market on Tuesday and Wednesday The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported a domestic case of COVID-19, associated with a recent cluster infection at Taoyuan General Hospital, and two imported cases. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that the latest case (No. 885) is a woman in her 50s, who is the third daughter of case No. 881, a man in his 90s. The woman is the main caregiver of her elderly father, who had been hospitalized earlier this month and was treated by a nurse (case No. 852) from Monday to Thursday last week, he said, adding that
DUBIOUS HONOR? A man in his 90s, who tested positive yesterday and is part of the Taoyuan hospital cluster, is the oldest person in Taiwan to have contracted COVID-19 Taiwan yesterday recorded six new imported cases of COVID-19 and two new domestic cases, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, adding that the local infections are linked to the cluster at Taoyuan General Hospital, which now totals 12 cases. One of the domestic cases is a man in his 90s, who was treated earlier this month at Taoyuan General Hospital and tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday last week, four days before he was discharged, the center said in a statement. After one of the nurses on the ward was confirmed on Saturday last week to have contracted COVID-19, the
RSS