Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) revealed her interest in running for the presidency again in 2016 for the first time since losing in January’s presidential election, saying in a television interview aired last night that she would make herself an “option.”
“As a politician, I will continue to make myself an option,” Tsai said in response to a question on whether she plans to run again in four years in an interview with Sanlih television, the first she has given since the election.
The two-hour interview was conducted on Thursday.
Tsai addressed a wide range of recent issues that have caused social instability and said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should stop behaving as a one-man show because one person alone can neither represent his own party nor the entire nation.
Ma’s decision-making process reflects that his mind is still set in the framework of the former authoritarian regime, she said.
In spite of Ma proclaiming his admiration and respect for former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) — who was described by some as “always listening to the people’s voice” — Tsai said that the governance, teams and political environment of Ma and Chiang’s respective reigns differed drastically.
Ma has done the opposite of Chiang by insisting on raising the prices of fuel and electricity as well as levying a securities tax, she said.
The president caved in to foreign pressure in the US beef import controversy and transferred domestic pressure, such as the state-run companies’ demand to raise fuel and electricity prices, onto the public without seeking real solutions to either issue.
“People found out that this government is no longer trustworthy,” Tsai said.
On Ma’s proposal of “one country, two areas (一國兩區),” Tsai said Ma has caused great harm to Taiwan’s national status through his misinterpretation of the Constitution.
Ma has reformulated the design of “Taiwan and Mainland areas,” as stipulated in the Constitution, into his own version of relations between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China, she said.
The former chairperson said that the 40 DPP legislators have done “quite well” in the Legislative Yuan with their persistent monitoring of the administrative branch.
Tsai expected the DPP to continue to represent the people’s true voice, as it has always done.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
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