The nine-in-one local elections in November will be a battle between proponents and opponents of reform, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) National Congress yesterday.
The annual meeting took place at the Grand Hotel in Taipei and was titled “Promoting Reforms for the Next Generation.”
The meeting focused on the election of new members to the party’s Central Standing and Central Advisory committees, and rallying support for its candidates in the Nov. 24 race, DPP spokesperson Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Despite challenges, the DPP administration has over the past two years strived to reform the nation’s pension, tax and judicial systems, and amended the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法) and the Company Act (公司法) , Tsai, who is also DPP chairperson, said in her opening speech.
The DPP has been promoting democracy for 32 years and people who were initially opposed to democracy are now enjoying its benefits, Tsai said.
The reforms undertaken by the DPP are those the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was afraid to implement while in power, she said, adding that the KMT also missed the opportunities to undertake energy transformation and implement transitional justice.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The KMT should not have put excessive emphasis on the Chinese market and neglected Southeast Asia’s potential, Tsai said.
The nation would not give in to Chinese pressure or take reckless steps to alter cross-strait ties, but it would continue to rally more global support, she said.
Tsai also called on DPP members to fight for the year-end elections.
Congress member Hsu Han-sheng (許瀚升) proposed that the DPP launch a new party program based on Tsai’s strategy of “maintaining the status quo” across the Taiwan Strait.
However, Tsai did not support the proposal, saying that it is similar to another one proposed last year and had already been discussed.
Congress member Lee Wen-cheng (李文正) proposed that the nation react to Chinese obstructionism in the form of referring to Taiwan as one of its provinces, which was forwarded to the party’s Central Standing Committee with Tsai’s consent.
At a meeting yesterday morning, local representatives also offered suggestions to Executive Yuan officials regarding how they might curb the circulation of fake news, such as recent false reports about banana and pineapple sales, Cheng said, adding that many reports about air pollution regulations were also fabricated.
The Environmental Protection Administration should indeed improve its public communication channels, but some people intentionally distort its policies to incite social unrest, he said, adding that the DPP would respond to false news more rapidly.
Additional reporting by CNA
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