Perhaps the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) election campaign could have afforded to pay less attention to the counties of Hualien and Taitung, which, along with Yilan, cover the entire coast of eastern Taiwan.
From the perspective of securing votes, this massive rural area — which has a population of just 570,000, slightly more than New Taipei City’s (新北市) perennial Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) stronghold of Banciao (板橋) — probably matters little more than the outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu.
Aborigines and Hakkas, two of the largest ethnic groups in the region, have traditionally favored the KMT, which explains why there have never been any DPP commissioners in the two counties and a DPP victory in legislative elections was more often than not considered a “miracle.”
Photo: Chang Tsun-wei, Taipei Times
However, it seems DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who has often been described as an “unorthodox” politician, wanted to defy both the odds and conventional wisdom with her presidential campaign trip last week. The route included visits to Aboriginal communities in Taitung, a motorcade traveling more than 100km through Hualien and a visit to Orchid Island (蘭嶼), which President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has not visited during his term.
It is exactly in this region that Tsai is able to highlight the differences between her and Ma, who is seeking re-election.
She pledged to advance Aboriginal autonomy and laws related to Aboriginal lands and maritime space, some of which have been seized by governments for several decades, and establish a “new partnership” between the government and Aborigines to “correct the historical mistakes that have lasted for hundreds of years.”
Ma advocates a “pragmatic approach” for Aboriginal autonomy, saying that it should be a step-by-step process and that the DPP’s vision of “a nation within a nation” is not feasible. He ruled out fiscal independence and legislative rights in the autonomous regions.
On Orchid Island, where a nuclear-waste storage facility was built in 1982 by the government without first consulting the local people, Tsai apologized for the outrageous decision and reiterated her “2025 Nuclear-Free Homeland” initiative.
The initiative aims to phase out nuclear power by 2025 by decommissioning the three nuclear power plants currently in operation, preventing the operation of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant — which is under construction — and using alternative energy resources.
Ma has also said he supports the nuclear-free idea, but has not proposed a timetable.
Eastern Taiwan will be critical to Tsai’s national policy of agriculture and regional development because it is one of the most important agricultural produce regions, but lacks infrastructure development.
Speaking in rice-growing Yuli Township (玉里), Hualien County, Tsai said the DPP had pushed for the Statute for Development of the Hualien and Taitung Regions (花東地區發展條例) and the establishment of a NT$40 billion (US$1.3 billion) development fund, as well as a NT$100 billion development fund for rural areas.
The effort was the DPP’s attempt to “balance” the development of various regions in Taiwan and revive Taiwan’s agricultural sector, she said, because past administrations, including those of the DPP, “simply did not pay enough attention to this side of Taiwan.”
Tsai received a warm welcome throughout the two-day trip, further boosting her campaign team’s belief that Tsai’s policies would be well received and garner a positive response.
When it comes down to -business, the DPP could make better use of the traditional tactics to spread their campaign messages.
However, the party no longer ignores the east coast, having established more than 100 “contact points” in Aboriginal communities in eastern Taiwan since Tsai assumed the chair of the party in 2008, despite knowing the “returns” might be limited.
The DPP’s goal for the January presidential election is modest. “We want to make sure every DPP supporter goes to the poll on Jan. 14, 2011. It’s that simple,” said one party official, who wished to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
RSS