The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has yet to figure out why it lost this year’s presidential election and remains directionless almost one year later, independence advocate Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) said yesterday.
Koo, one of the most vocal heavyweights in the pro-independence camp, expressed his disappointment with the party in a speech delivered at an event organized by the Taiwan Association of University Professors.
“I waited for almost one year before expressing my views today. Did the DPP conduct a comprehensive review of the election to understand why it lost? From what I’ve seen, the party hasn’t changed and factionalism still dominates its Central Standing Committee,” the 87-year-old said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Koo also expressed a particular displeasure with DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), former party chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) in his 90-minute speech.
The DPP cannot possibly hope to regain the people’s trust by waiting for President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to fail, Koo said, adding that the DPP’s approval rating remained low despite Ma’s own dismal 13 percent approval figures.
Koo praised Su’s efforts to visit local communities and reconnect with grassroots supporters, but criticized the party headquarters for “taking people’s support for granted and sitting idle amid Ma’s incompetence.”
The DPP should have been more vocal in its efforts to recall the president and amend the Constitution, he told the audience.
Regarding Tsai, Koo said her US affairs campaign team had been understaffed, with DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) serving as the sole aide. The campaign team had underestimated the importance of Tasi’s US visit, the mismanagement of which had significantly hurt her election bid, he said.
Koo said Hsieh’s remarks during his landmark visit to China in October were “inappropriate” and he disagreed with the former premier’s initiative of “one Constitution with different interpretations (憲法各表).”
“The DPP is the only hope Taiwanese have because the Taiwan Solidarity Union remains weak. The DPP has to keep up with the times and reignite people’s passion for politics,” Koo said.
Ma’s low approval rating reflects not only his “incompetence, carelessness and cold-bloodedness,” but also the people’s opposition to his administration, Koo said.
In terms of cross-strait relations, the senior politician said Beijing’s Taiwan strategy “has been a total failure” because anti-China sentiment among Taiwanese has increased.
“I boldly predict that China will not annex Taiwan by force because doing so could place its economy at risk of being hit by international economic sanctions,” he said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS