Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday concluded her post-election nine-day “thank you tour” in eastern Taiwan, saying the party would rise again if it kept cultivating its grassroots supporters and if its supporters stick together.
Tsai, who had been traveling nationwide since Jan. 28 to express gratitude to supporters after losing the Jan. 14 presidential election, also bade farewell to supporters before stepping down as party chair on March 1.
Speaking in Hualien yesterday morning, Tsai said the combined presidential and legislative elections last month were great challenges for the DPP four years after it lost the 2008 presidential election in a landslide.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
“The party had to deal with the pressure of readjustment after the 2008 loss and had to learn how to win in the relatively new electoral system of the single-district legislative elections,” Tsai said.
The election results were less satisfying than DPP supporters had hoped, with Tsai losing to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) by 800,000 votes and the DPP winning 40 of 113 legislative seats, despite having hoped to win a majority in the legislature.
“We have to go back and face reality. And we will not win the next election unless we take time to deal with a lot of fundamental issues honestly,” she said.
The DPP has to ask itself if “it is strong enough” to deal with the general political situation, as well as its own structural problem, she said.
If the answer is no and the political situation is not favorable to the DPP, she added, then the party should look at its disadvantages seriously.
Although the DPP highlighted its Aborigine policy and worked hard to appeal to voters on the east coast, its share of the vote in eastern Taiwan was disappointing, with Tsai winning only 25.9 percent of the vote in Hualien against Ma’s 70.3 percent and 30.5 percent in Taitung against Ma’s 66.5 percent.
One of the most important tasks, which had long been ignored, was to put effort into working with local communities and constituents — a priority for DPP local representatives as well as legislators from now on, Tsai said.
“The DPP’s politicians and representatives have to be seen and to be accessible so people know the party is always there for them,” she said.
Tsai said the DPP made some progress in the region because Aborigines considered the DPP “a possible option at the ballot box.”
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard