President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign office yesterday launched a three-day democracy camp with students in Greater Tainan, with Ma and top campaign officials meeting with young people as part of efforts to strengthen KMT support in southern Taiwan.
Ma executive campaign director King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) yesterday addressed the opening ceremony of the “Democracy Election Camp,” encouraging the 72 participating students to get more involved in politics and contribute to the democratic development of Taiwan.
“Taiwan’s democracy requires the efforts of younger generations, and we need all of you to join us in making Taiwan a better place,” he said at the camp at Sheng Mu Temple.
Ma will visit the camp and meet with students tomorrow, Ma’s campaign office spokesman Yin Wei (殷瑋) said. The campaign office sought to help young people discover their passion for public affairs, and will invite members in the camp to join the election campaign team, he said.
Yin said the camp is part of the president’s re-election campaign to attract support from first-time voters who, polls show, are mostly undecided.
As Ma’s top campaign strategist, King has recruited younger staff to run his campaign through social-networking media, such as Facebook, and has been meeting university students at conferences for the past few months.
The camp will run until tomorrow, and Ma deputy campaign director Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) and well-known columnist Yang Chao (楊照) will also attend the camp to share their experiences on election campaigns with the students.
Holding the camp in Greater Tainan, a traditional pan-green stronghold, highlighted the campaign office’s attempt to solicit support in the south, Yin said.
Ma will also visit fishermen in Greater Kaohsiung tomorrow to discuss agricultural policies.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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