The three aspiring vice presidents yesterday presented their campaign platforms at the first and only televised vice presidential policy presentation hosted by the Central Election Commission (CEC).
Like the first televised presidential presentation on Wednesday, last night’s event was conducted in three rounds, with each candidate given 10 minutes per round.
The order of presentation was decided by drawing lots, with former premier Simon Chang (張善政) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) going first, followed by former premier William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and former United Communications Group chairwoman Sandra Yu (余湘) of the People First Party (PFP).
Photo courtesy of Central Election Commission via CNA
Lai and Chang are experienced politicians, while Yu, dubbed the “advertisement godmother” of Taiwan by the media, is new to politics.
Chang described a DPP digital entrepreneurship plan as a “deviant” policy that “kicks young people [out of Taiwan]” and touted “10 major digital action plans” he and his running mate, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), have proposed that would include establishing a digital innovation committee as part of the Executive Yuan to promote digital education and the development of smart cities.
The DPP government has lied to voters by embellishing statistics, he said.
He initially hoped that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would lead the nation to a better future, but over the past two years he has seen the Tsai administration’s incompetence polarize the Taiwanese public, Chang said, adding that he finds it intolerable because of its blatant cronyism and nepotism.
A major reason he is running is that he hopes to establish a new environment for Taiwan, he said.
Digital technology is the key to economic transformation and ensuring people’s welfare, but the Tsai administration has failed to foster the development of innovative technologies, he added.
Lai said that “DPP” is not only an acronym for the party, but also for “democracy, peace and prosperity,” which are critical to the nation’s development.
He emphasized the importance of maintaining Taiwan’s democracy, cross-strait peace and economic prosperity.
Taiwanese love peace, but China has continued to threaten Taiwan with its military power and poaching of diplomatic allies, Lai said.
The KMT hopes to resolve issues with China through a peace deal, which would compromise Taiwan’s democracy, he said, adding that Taiwanese must stand united against China, which he described as a “bad neighbor.”
Tsai has made great strides in economic development and by 2030 Taiwan could become a “smart country,” where smart technology is incorporated into finance, education, healthcare, agriculture and manufacturing, he said, pledging to promote language education policies to turn Taiwan into a bilingual nation.
Yu said that at Wednesday’s presidential presentation, the DPP and KMT once against performed “a wonderful act filled with confusing statistics and political mudslinging, but no actual policies were presented.”
The nation’s two largest parties have gone to great lengths to marginalize the PFP, because it is the only party that accurately represents public opinion, Yu said, adding that the DPP has turned a blind eye to the pain and suffering of society over the past four years and its so-called reforms have been nothing but political purges against the KMT.
Yu described a DPP-proposed anti-infiltration bill as “a highly controversial, unthorough bill that tears apart and polarizes people,” urging the ruling party to halt discussion of the bill until the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 11.
She pledged better care for veterans and older farmers; to review pension reforms for military personnel, public servants and public schoolteachers; and to increase social housing for young people and the elderly to better implement housing justice.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
RSS