Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Hot topics are likely to be how to improve the economy, national identity and cross-strait relations.
"The coming debate will be important, especially to Hsieh, who is lagging behind in the campaign," said Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政), a political science professor at Soochow University. "It will provide a platform for the two candidates to compete on an equal footing."
Both candidates will answer 20 questions during a two-hour session before they grill each other, debate organizers have said.
Ma's campaign is focusing its election strategy on the economy, believed to have been a major factor in the KMT's sweeping victory over the DPP in January legislative elections.
Ma has promised annual economic growth of 6 percent, up from the current estimated 4.5 percent, and a 3 percent fall in unemployment within eight years if he is elected.
He has also vowed closer political, business and social ties with China, including prioritizing the opening of direct links and easing restrictions on visits by Chinese tourists.
"I believe, as in the legislative election, voters will use their ballots in another no-confidence vote against the impotent, corrupt DPP government," KMT Legislator and Ma campaign manager Justin Chou (
He was referring to a wave of high-profile corruption cases implicating President Chen Shui-bian (
The DPP, for its part, has been questioning Ma's loyalty to Taiwan, suggestions flatly rejected by the KMT.
On investment into China, Hsieh wants the government to review restrictions and allow for flexibility on a case-by-case basis on major projects instead of applying the 40 percent limit across the board.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods