The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must show unity to keep the nation from being absorbed by China, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday, after the party’s postponement of its primary on Wednesday prompted a senior DPP member to leave the party in protest.
Su made the remarks at Fuhe Temple in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和) when asked whether Taiwan United Nations Alliance president Michael Tsai’s (蔡明憲) renouncement of his DPP membership would spark an exodus of party members.
“Former premier William Lai (賴清德) has called on DPP members not to leave the party. He has urged them to exercise prudence, to stand back and see the bigger picture for the party,” Lai said.
Photo: CNA
In handling the primary, the DPP must consider its two presidential hopefuls: Lai and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), he said, adding that the primary was delayed in part because the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had yet to announce its candidate.
The DPP hopes to nominate its strongest contender, the one who has the best chance of winning and allowing the party to continue to serve Taiwanese, he said.
Asked whether the hopefuls’ rivalry would “split up” Tsai’s votes, Su said that this time is different from 2016 — people should not assume that Tsai’s support base would shrink.
The DPP administration has had a challenging time, but the nation is in a dire and precarious situation, Su said.
Despite difficulties, businesses returning from China due to trade tensions have repatriated NT$120 billion (US$3.9 billion), while businesses expanding into Southeast Asia have generated NT$3.2 trillion in revenue, he said.
Even people who have defected and become Chinese citizens want to return to Taiwan to use the National Health Insurance (NHI) system, he said, referring to legal expert Shao Tzu-ping (邵子平), who has vowed to sue the government for revoking his household registration, which made him ineligible for NHI benefits.
The DPP values openness and welcomes all opinions, but people should remember the hardships that people had to endure so that they could form an indigenous political party that has steadfastly resisted Chinese invasion and annexation attempts, Su added.
“Democracy is not an easy path, but people should not lose faith,” he said.
“Faced with a powerful China that is increasingly eager to annex Taiwan, people can only keep [the nation] from being unified by showing solidarity,” Su said.
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