Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) paid a visit yesterday to DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign headquarters to show his support before Hsieh was set to appear in the first televised debate with his Chinese National Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Hsu's endorsement of Hsieh was as an apparent move away from the pan-blue camp, with which he had been closely associated in the past few years, particularly during the campaign against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) initiated by former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) in August 2006.
Hsu praised Hsieh's long-term fight in the name of democracy and urged Taiwanese not to allow the KMT to holf a monopoly over politics in Taiwan.
PHOTO: CNA
Hsieh is among the few in the pan-green camp to have espoused rational and practical cross-strait policies, Hsu said, adding that Hsieh's voice as an executive leader would be more powerful than Ma's.
Hsu said he had always liked Hsieh's take on China-Taiwan relations and that while Hsieh and Ma's views on the matter did not differ much, Hsieh's experience as a civil rights activist made him a more competent candidate for democracy than Ma, whose experience Hsu said comes not from practice but from education.
Asked to comment on allegations that Hsieh had served as a informant for the KMT government, Hsu said his own experience of being misunderstood throughout his political life made him empathize with Hsieh.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration is seeking to join an Indo-Pacific economic framework being planned by the US, a senior official said. The government is paying close attention to the regional economic pact being touted by US President Joe Biden, although too few details have emerged from Washington for Taipei to make specific plans, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The US is expected to launch the Indo-Pacific economic framework next month after negotiations with Australia, India and Japan, the official said. The economic initiative is to tackle trade facilitation, standards for the digital economy and technology, supply-chain resiliency and
‘NEW YEAR GIFT’: While the MAC called the song propaganda, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said that it addressed the homesickness of ‘Taiwanese compatriots’ A pro-unification pop song aired on Chinese television earlier this month would only further sour Taiwanese sentiment toward China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Wednesday. The music video for We Sing the Same Song (我們同唱一首歌), which aired on China Central Television, features Chinese artists performing alongside Taiwanese singers Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Chen Li-nong (陳立農). The lyrics were reportedly written by Taiwanese lyricist Vincent Fang (方文山), known for his collaborations with Jay Chou (周杰倫), to music composed by a Chinese musician. Sung in Chinese and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), the song is about three Taiwanese siblings who
RULES TIGHTENED: Passengers arriving from Sydney and Los Angeles tested positive for COVID-19, while passengers arriving from Seattle all tested negative Seventeen of the 217 passengers who arrived on long-haul at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday morning tested positive for COVID-19, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, adding that the positivity rate was higher than expected. Yesterday was the first day that the government enforced stricter health guidelines for the testing of passengers arriving on long-haul flights. They must undergo a polymerase chain reaction test immediately after arriving at the nation’s international airports. Those who test positive are sent directly to hospitals to avoid spreading the virus to people working in and around the airports and at quarantine hotels. Victor Wang (王必勝),
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