The economy, human rights, educational reform and cultural platforms were among the issues debated yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidates.
KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) blamed the DPP for the nation's "sluggish economy" and slow-growing incomes.
He promised to improve the lives of Taiwanese by encouraging investment and raising incomes if elected.
In response to concerns about stagflation, Ma said that his "i-Taiwan 12 projects" economic platform would boost the nation's economy through a NT$2.65 trillion (US$81 billion) government funding plan for domestic construction over the next eight years.
The construction projects, Ma said, would attract NT$1.34 trillion in private investment, adding they would boost GDP by more than NT$4 trillion over the next eight years and provide employment for 120,000 people.
Challenging DPP candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) for failing to implement policies to improve the economy during his stint as premier, Ma also promised to close the poverty gap by providing subsidies to low-income families with an annual income of less than NT$480,000.
"I am willing to make donations to close the poverty gap if I fail to carry out my policies," he said. "In fact, I have made a lot of donations to minority groups in the past."
Asked how he would tackle inflation, Hsieh proposed to cut taxes, including raising the deduction for salaried or wage-earning employees from the current NT$78,000 to NT$100,000 and that for the physically impaired from NT$77,000 to NT$100,000.
The inheritance and gift taxes must be reduced and the corporate income tax rate should be decreased from 25 percent to 17.5 percent, he said.
Another measure would be to grant amnesty to China-based Taiwanese businesspeople so that they would transfer their capital back home.
Hsieh criticized Ma for setting the economic growth at 6 percent, but not mentioning how he plans to control rising commodity prices. Ma's proposal would only make the problem worse, he said.
Saying Ma's economic policy was inconsistent, Hsieh said his rival's proposals were not well-thought-out and nothing but a "game of numbers."
While Ma proposed a "623" policy in October, Hsieh said he changed it to "633" in November and "345" in December.
Later yesterday, gay and lesbian groups condemned both presidential candidates for not promising to push for a gay marriage bill during the debate.
The two candidates were asked: "Are you willing to, and how will you push for a homosexual marriage bill?"
Both candidates responded that there should be a consensus in society first.
"It's obvious that the need for consensus in society is merely an excuse," a joint statement from 12 gay and lesbian groups said.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,