Former premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday vowed to stay in the Democratic Progressive Party presidential primary, but said he was not considering a joint ticket with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
“I will not quit after encountering setbacks. Rather, it has strengthened my resolve and I will take up the responsibility with courage,” Lai said in an online television program.
Asked about his meeting on Tuesday with Tsai at a friend’s residence on Yangmingshan, Lai rejected reports that he was pressured to quit the primary and said they did not talk about a potential Tsai-Lai ticket.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Lai added that the DPP’s Central Executive Committee had to make a decision and if it had dragged on, it would damage the party and affect its chances in next year’s presidential and legislative elections.
“I was worried about what might happen, if the committee members had been forced to decide by vote, as DPP Chairman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) had made it clear that he would not do so and if were forced to do so, he might resign as chairman,” Lai said.
“Now that the storm is over, my priority is to garner more support to win in the primary,” Lai said.
He also backed down from a threat to file a legal challenge.
“My intention is to unite the party, so it can win the presidential election. If we challenge [the committee’s decision] in court, it would harm the party,” he said.
“So we shall not appeal to the courts, but rather we shall appeal to the public, and I hope to have more people supporting me,” he said.
Tsai also expressed her support for the committee’s decision, saying that it “had agreed upon the rules for the primary process in accordance with the party’s charter. The committee’s decision came out of our party’s deliberations and it had followed the democratic mechanism.”
“Since the rules have been settled, then we should abide by the party’s decision,” Tsai told reporters while attending a conference in Taipei on assessing the government’s New Southbound Policy.
Pro-independence groups and Lai supporters on Wednesday said they could not accept the “unfair” manner in which the committee had forced its decision through and vowed that they would campaign to prevent several DPP legislators from being re-elected next year.
Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) told a group of protesters outside the DPP’s headquarters in Taipei that the committee must not use underhanded tactics to change the primary rules.
“The only way is a fair and democratic mechanism to determine the presidential candidate, then the party can stay united together to win next year’s election,” You said.
“We are gathered for a rally to restore the DPP’s soul and its democratic values. We are opposed to decisions that run counter to people’s wishes,” Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-sen (張葉森) said.
More than 1,000 people joined the rally led by Formosa Alliance and the Chen Shui-bian Formosa Republic Association, with many coming from central and southern Taiwan by bus.
“President Tsai has lost a lot of support at the grassroots level, because many are disappointed at her performance, such as judicial reforms and other policy promises that she has not carried through,” former DPP legislator Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興) said.
“We believe Tsai cannot win in next year’s election, and Taiwan might end up with the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] as the ruling government again, which would sign a peace agreement with China” he said.
“Do we want Taiwan to become another Hong Kong? Of course not,” he said.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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