The three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential hopefuls will meet today in their first platform presentation, which will be broadcast live on television.
The candidates are expected to cover topics ranging from their own experiences to social policies and cross-strait relations in the two-hour session, the first of four, which will be telecast by FTV News starting at 2pm.
In particular, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is expected to talk about her leadership of the party over the past three years and her major social policies, including proposals to bridge the income gap.
“During this first session, Tsai will share with viewers her report card on leading the DPP out of the depths and her past government experience,” said Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青), Tsai’s campaign spokesperson.
Tsai will also talk about Taiwan’s current difficulties and how she plans to lead the country, including on issues such as energy policy, Hsu said. Tsai isn’t expected to include cross-strait policy in her prepared remarks.
Former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), the other frontrunner, will tell viewers about how he plans to help Taiwan “regain its confidence and put smiles back on Taiwanese,” said Lee Hou-ching (李厚慶), a spokesperson for Su.
“Over the past few weeks, the former premier has asked for guidance from academics and the public. His remarks [today] will be a reflection and a result of this,” added Andrew Wang (王閔生), another spokesperson.
The focus of Su’s prepared remarks would center on how he plans to create a more “prosperous, equal and confident” country, Wang said, adding that “it would be a waste of time talking too much about other people.”
Former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良), who was trailing Tsai and Su by a long margin in recent polls, on Thursday said he “guaranteed” the televised session would be “interesting and varied.”
Hsu’s office spokesperson said he would speak on social welfare policies and also keep a focus on cross-strait issues. Hsu has -advocated for the cross-strait “status quo,” which he said would better help Taiwan’s economy.
“I hope that my policies can impact a lot of people … including Tsai and Su,” Hsu said.
The remaining sessions will be held on Wednesday, April 16 and April 20, and will be broadcast on cable news stations ETTV, Era News and SET TV respectively.
According to DPP organizers, each of the candidates would be given 10 minutes for an opening and closing statement. In between the two statements, each candidate will answer three questions posed by academics.
The questions will be asked by former Mainland Affairs Council chairperson Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Taiwan Thinktank chairman Chen Po-chih (陳博志) and Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), a sociology professor at National Chengchi University.
The three candidates would not be given the opportunity to ask questions during the televised session.
Tsai is expected to be accompanied today by members of pro-independence groups that showed up at her bid announcement last month, as well as former DPP officials from former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration.
According to Su’s campaign, the former premier has invited senior party elders, including Chiang Peng-chien (江鵬堅), the DPP’s founding chairperson, as well as campaign volunteers and supporters.
Hsu’s campaign is also understood to have invited both the -former director of Chen Shui-bian’s office, Chen Sung-shan (陳淞山) and organizers of the “red shirt” campaign against the former president.
Both Tsai and Su are eagerly seeking to use the televised session to break out of the neck-and-neck contest that has so far marked the DPP primary.
An Apple Daily poll released yesterday gives Tsai a slight lead over Su in the nominations, but the figures are still well within the margin of error.
If the elections were held now, Tsai would lose to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), 41.63 percent to 43.13 percent. Su would lose 39.14 percent to Ma’s 44.02 percent.
The poll, which asked 1,004 voting age respondents, was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
RSS