Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday accused President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration of causing “unspeakable suffering” to Taiwanese.
There must be peaceful exchanges across the Taiwan Strait to facilitate the flow of people and goods, which would make Taiwan richer, Han said.
He called on his supporters to vote the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) out of the Presidential Office and the Legislative Yuan in next year’s elections.
Photo: Liu Pin-chuan, Taipei Times
Han made the remarks in a meeting at the Nantou County Council.
While Taiwan’s exports are subjected to a 10 percent tariff, the nation’s main competitor, South Korea, enjoys preferential taxes on 70 percent of its exports via a free-trade arrangement it negotiated with the UK and other nations, Han said, without elaborating.
“Our products are sold at higher prices and we lost Chinese tourists not traveling in group tours,” he said. “Without people coming in or goods going out, the economy cannot grow.”
“The elite residents of Nantou must unite for their children’s sake and vote the DPP out of office to allow Taiwan to have a future,” he said.
In response to requests for comment on remarks by former KMT legislator Chen Hung-chang (陳宏昌) that Han spent his time as a lawmaker “boozing, partying and womanizing,” Han said he did smoke, drink and play mahjong at the legislature.
“However, that was Han Kuo-yu from 10 or 20 years ago, not the man I am now,” Han said. “Chen was remembering the old Han and if he wants to I can prove it to him that I have changed.”
Chen, a KMT member and head of New Taipei City’s Younglian Temple (湧蓮寺), made the comment during Tsai’s visit to his temple earlier yesterday.
KMT New Taipei City chapter head Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) said that Chen’s remarks were inappropriate and a disciplinary meeting would convene today to discuss possible disciplinary action.
“While the party expects Chen to greet the guests to his temple, it was inappropriate for a member of the party’s Central Supervisory Committee to criticize Han and elevate Tsai,” Lee said.
Additional reporting by Chen Hsin-yu
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS