New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) on Thursday said in an interview that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is “more dangerous” than President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and could “be ruthless” because she is “single, without family burdens.”
In an interview with the China Review News, when he was asked to comment on remarks that Tsai is a 2.0 version of Ma or another Chen, Yok said he has long before said that Tsai is a “female version of Ma,” as they “lack ideas, but think highly of themselves and do not take advice.”
“However, she would be worse than Ma, for Ma has done a lot that he should have done to sustain a peaceful foundation. Unless she renounces the Taiwan independence clause [in the DPP’s party charter], she would not have the support from the pan-blue camp or the approval of the Chinese Communist Party if she continues her equivocation. However, if she does, she would be harshly criticized by the people who support Taiwanese independence,” Yok said.
“What is different between Tsai and Chen is that she is single. Single people do things more ruthlessly because they have less to care about compared with those who have children. She is more dangerous than Chen. One day she might go amok; she might ally with the US and Japan and start a war against China,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator-at-large candidate Hu Chu-sheng (胡筑生), who is head of the party’s Huang Fu Hsing (黃復興) military veterans’ branch, on Wednesday night said on a political talk show of the nation’s military system that: “If everyone were Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) in the army, Taiwan would have become a female country (女人國) long before.”
Hung died from abuse when serving in the military in 2013. His death sparked a mass demonstration calling for military reform. Hung’s sister, Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸), now a New Power Party legislative candidate, accepted calls to enter politics after attracting public attention for her fight against the Ministry of National Defense following Hung Chung-chiu’s death.
Hung Tsu-yung yesterday said on Facebook that the military would continue to abuse people as long as its actions do not come to light.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and