Former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said that Taiwan should respond to the US-China trade dispute by building a closer relationship with the US while ensuring peace with China.
Chu, who is seeking the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential nomination, made the remarks during a morning interview with radio show host Chen Fong-hsin (陳鳳馨) on News 98.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration is taking a “one-sided” approach by avoiding all contact with China, but “Taiwan does not need to do exactly as Beijing says,” Chu said.
Photo: Chou Hsiang-yun, Taipei Times
Nor does Taiwan “have to stoop to fawning on the US,” given that Washington needs Taiwan in areas such as arms sales and ensuring regional peace, he added.
A more “balanced” approach would create more opportunities for Taiwan, he said, adding that although the nation relies greatly on US technologies and talent, China is its biggest export market.
“Taiwan could serve as a great mediator” between the two and help ease the conflict, Chu said, adding that the trade dispute is “both a crisis and an opportunity.”
Asked if he would be capable of negotiating with China and the US on behalf of Taiwanese businesses if elected president, Chu said: “I believe that is what we will have to do — the government plays a very important role in this.”
The greatest help the government can provide to businesses is to create a liberal economic environment with minimal regulations, he said, adding that the government should abandon any political ideologies, because a nation’s businesses must compete with the world.
Asked how he would respond to those who oppose more liberal economic policies on the grounds that it would allow more Chinese to work in Taiwan, Chu said: “I do not care if a talented individual came from China, the US or India. Even if they are Chinese, why should they not be hired if they are talented?”
Asked about his energy plans, Chu said that he would promote an energy reserve and determine energy policy in a pragmatic manner.
The Tsai administration’s goal to abolish nuclear power by 2025 is “impossible,” because wind and solar power would be insufficient to cover 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by then, with foreign research suggesting that they would only cover about 9.8 percent, he said.
As electricity shortages are a national security issue, if the KMT returns to power, it would be open to keeping the three nuclear power plants scheduled to be decommissioned by 2025 and activating the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), he said.
If the KMT decides to continue using nuclear power, it would ensure its safety and carefully handle radioactive waste, Chu added.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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