Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday panned Foxconn Technology Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) for remarks urging more economic liberalization and cross-strait economic exchanges, while saying that democracy is not the most important thing.
“Gou’s objective of boosting economic development is right, but the way he seeks to achieve the goal is wrong,” Ko said during a campaign event yesterday, when asked to comment on Gou’s televised interview on CTiTV on Saturday.
“Of course we should continue to trade with China — we cannot give up the Chinese market — however, we should keep our eyes beyond China,” Ko said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
He was referring to Gou’s worries during the interview about the effect that a free-trade agreement between South Korea and China could have on Taiwan.
Ko said that he especially disagrees with Gou’s assertion that democracy is not the most important thing.
“Democracy in Taiwan is still not a general democracy. If we have a general democracy, we will become a more powerful nation, so we should learn from the good, not from the bad,” Ko said. “It is up to us to decide whether we want a US-style democracy, or a Hitler-style or Soviet-style economic plan.”
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Ko said that the way to solve problems within a democratic system is to reform through a democratic method.
“That is why I said Gou’s objective is good, but his way to achieve it is wrong,” Ko added.
Separately yesterday, when traveling between campaign events, Ko’s vehicle was hit by a small truck from behind in the afternoon in a minor collision. No injuries were reported.
Ko said that he always keeps an eye on the speed of his van and reminds the driver to refrain from speeding.
“I was shocked when my van was hit from behind, but there was really nothing I could do to prevent it, because the car was coming from behind, and its driver was speeding,” Ko said.
Later, after introducing a panel of selectors for the future head of the department of environmental protection earlier last week provided he is elected, Ko yesterday held another press conference and introduced his intended panel of selectors for the head of the department of education.
The panel includes several professors, as well as former Taipei department of education director Wu Yin-chang (吳英璋) and former Greater Kaohsiung education bureau director Tseng Hsien-cheng (曾憲政).
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching