Long-time political activist Shih Ming-te (施明德) yesterday announced his presidential bid, saying that he aimed to bring about cross-strait reconciliation and implement social justice, while lashing out at “conventional” politicians who he said had betrayed the public.
“In each successive administration, we see politicians betraying their ideologies, tearing the nation apart and losing direction,” Shih, a founding member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who broke ties with the party in 2000, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday morning. “There is no leadership in Taiwan, just decisions based on the interaction of power and interests, and the public no longer has any expectations of a new dawn.”
“Along the path of revolution, I have made narrow escapes from the dictator’s knife, and eventually, I knew I would have to engage in a duel with these dirty politicians,” Shih said.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
He promised that, once elected, he would work to bring about reconciliation between the nation’s political parties, as well as between Taiwan and China; he also vowed to realize social justice and put an immediate end to government corruption.
He called for both the Republic of China (ROC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to work together to form a political entity under what he described as a “larger one China” framework, adding that developments in the cross-strait relationship should be based on the reality that the ROC and the PRC are separate political entities.
“The definition of ‘one China’ has been made too narrow, and in reality it is just taken to mean the PRC,” Shih said. “This is something that the 23 million people of the ROC cannot accept, and I propose to replace it with the ‘larger one China’ framework to bring about reconciliation.”
Under the “larger one China” framework, Shih said, the ROC and the PRC would cease being rivals, and would promise not to take military action against each other, while each side would enjoy the right to take part in international organizations and to establish diplomatic ties with other nations.
Shih said he would assign posts in the central government and the state-run businesses to candidates from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the Democratic Progressive Party, elites and people under 39.
“My idea is to put an end to the one-party regime or one-party presidential system, and make the president a truly national president,” Shih said.
He went on to say that he would also seek to modernize the legal system in Taiwan, as most of the laws framed in China by the KMT regime 70 years ago.
However, Shih said that it could take a long time to reform the laws, therefore, he proposed creating legal reform committees overseen by the president, with the participation of progressive civic groups.
“When we have finished the law amendment proposals, we would bypass the malicious Legislative Yuan and put the proposals to direct referendums to allow the public to decide whether to put them into effect,” Shih said.
He said he deliberately picked yesterday to announce his presidential bid because it marked the date on which he was released from prison for the last time 25 years ago.
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
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,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS