Contrary to his campaign slogan of “100 percent economy, zero percent politics,” Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) slogan is now “100 percent politics, zero percent economic development,” Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said in Tokyo yesterday.
Ko made the remark in response to media queries for comment on Han’s statement on Friday that he would attend a rally in Taipei yesterday organized by his supporters to encourage him to run in next year’s presidential election.
On a visit to Japan since Thursday, Ko said: “What? Is that true?”
Photo: CNA
He seemed surprised on hearing of Han’s decision from reporters and asked if Han still wanted to perform his mayoral duties in Kaohsiung.
Ko said that he only focused on getting re-elected in the final 15 days before the election, in line with regulations.
“He [Han] has now become ‘100 percent politics, zero percent economic development,’” Ko said.
Asked about a closed-door meeting with Japanese academics at the University of Tokyo, Ko said that the meeting gave him the thought that “Japan and Taiwan are both stuck between the US and China, so how Japan responds to the situation can show Taiwan what to do.”
On Friday after giving a speech at a dinner held by the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Tokyo, Ko took questions on international relations from the audience.
“It is an established policy of China to annex Taiwan. Whether you like it or not, China wants to get rid of you. So frankly speaking, the only thing that Taiwan must do is survive,” he said. “Taiwan has its own importance.”
The US would not give up on Taiwan because of its important location, in the “first island chain,” Ko said.
Japan should be nervous — if Taiwan is annexed by China, it would affect Japan’s economic lifeline, as a large proportion of Japan’s energy imports come through Taiwan, he added.
Taiwan’s independence from China or unification with China is not the real issue, as the US would not allow Taiwan to declare its independence and irritate China, but neither would the US allow China to annex Taiwan, Ko said.
However, independence or unification becomes a problem in Taiwan as many politicians try to manipulate people with the issue, he added.
Asked why he criticized President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) more than he criticized China, Ko said a monkey’s red butt will only be seen when it climbs up a tree, so he might criticize the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) too if it climbed the tree — became the ruling party.
“The president is supposed to do a good job and will only be criticized if they do a bad job at governing,” he said. “As president, people give you the greatest power, so you are supposed to do what is right. Just because people criticize you, doesn’t mean they’re your enemy.”
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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