Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday had some tough words for party leaders and those who have not supported her campaign.
The party cannot afford to vacillate over her official nomination or it would not only leave “pan-blue supporters distressed and swing voters alienated, but provide the pan-green supporters with an opportunity for ridicule it.”
In a display of solidarity, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) joined a gathering to mark the establishment of a club for Taiwanese businesspeople working in China to support the KMT’s presidential and legislative candidates.
Photo: CNA
It was the first time so many top KMT members were together since the national congress on July 19.
However, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) was conspicuously absent.
Before the event, Hung responded to rumors that the KMT was “abandoning” her rather than seeking to “replace” her, saying that she became the party’s presidential candidate through due process.
“Please stop resorting to rumors to damage it [my campaign],” she said.
In her speech to the new club, Hung stressed the legitimacy of her nomination, saying that having gone through all the required procedures for the KMT primary, “my candidacy is not just about me anymore, it signifies the party’s promise to the nation and its determination.”
“[The nomination] would not tolerate my hesitation, nor would it allow room for the party’s [change of mind], otherwise not only the election, but also the public’s expectations, respect and trust for the party would be lost,” she said.
“It would be a total collapse of our party,” she said.
Hung also said that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers should “pass the absentee voting bill” if DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) claims to have “70 percent of the overseas Taiwanese businesspeople’s support” were true.
She questioned Tsai’s “new southward policy,” saying Taiwan’s relations with Southeast Asia would not be good “if the cross-strait relationship goes wrong.”
“Do you really believe that Tsai would maintain the ‘status quo’ as she has said she would? If she could maintain the ‘status quo’ based on the 1992 consensus, why not say it now?” Hung said.
“The memory of [cross-strait tensions during former president] Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) presidency is still fresh. We should not bet [our future] on this,” Hung said.
“I propose a cross-strait peace agreement to be signed on the foundation of the 1992 consensus to ensure a stable cross-strait relationship,” she said.
As Hung was castigating the DPP’s populism and “reasonless” opposition to the KMT’s policies and calling for rationality, an audience member yelled: “Reform the legislature; down with Wang Jin-pyng.”
Hung did not respond.
Ma, who said in his speech that the cross-strait “status quo” has to be maintained “upon a principle that is accepted by both sides,” said he was “quite shocked to hear [Tsai] say that she supports maintaining the ‘status quo,’ since [the DPP] has always criticized the ‘status quo’ as ‘pro-China and aiming to sell out Taiwan.’”
“The DPP’s remark claiming that it has been safeguarding the Republic of China has equally amazed me, as I thought it has been the [KMT’s] work. However, I am moved too, and support the DPP’s change of position,” Ma said.
The so-called “1992 consensus” refers to a supposed tacit understanding reached during cross-strait talks in 1992 that Taiwan and China each acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each having its own interpretation of what “one China” means. Former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) said in February 2006 that he had made up the term in 2000.
The DPP has long rejected the existence of the consensus.
In related news, Chinese Cross-Strait Taiwan Businesses Suggestion and Research president Chang Han-wen (張漢文) said that while projections of the number of Taiwanese businesspeople who plan to return home from China for the Jan. 16 elections are small, “it could improve to about 300,000 if the plane ticket problem is solved.”
“The Lunar New Year is 24 days after January 16. Since many people might find it difficult to purchase [two tickets in such a short period of time], we are now negotiating with airline companies [to offer discounts],” he said.
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