A pledge to defend Taiwan and never surrender has garnered 263 signatures among candidates in Saturday’s local elections, independence advocates said yesterday.
All 21 of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) county commissioner and mayoral candidates signed the pledge, but no candidates from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) or Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) signed it, they said.
China’s “hardline” approach to Taiwan has intensified since the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 20th National Congress, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) refused to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, World United Formosans for Independence chairman Chen Nan-tien (陳南天) said.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The decision of the DPP mayoral candidates in the six special municipalities to sign the pledge was in stark contrast with the inaction of the KMT and TPP candidates, Chen said, adding that the results “make it clear who is friend, foe and traitor.”
There were 37 signatories among candidates for city council seats in Kaohsiung, 24 in Taipei, 22 in New Taipei City, 11 in Taoyuan, 32 in Taichung and 20 in Tainan, the organizers of the pledge said.
In other city and county councils, 24 Taiwan Statebuilding Party members signed the pledge, while there were 15 from the Taiwan Obasang Political Equality Party and 26 from the DPP’s Taiwan Forward faction, the organizers said.
Two TPP councilor candidates from outside the six special municipalities signed, one in Tainan and one in Kaohsiung, they said.
Freedom of speech allows people to express pro-unification views, but voters should reject such candidates, as Taiwan must resist China’s ambitions to annex the nation, Taiwan New Constitution Foundation deputy director Sung Cheng-en (宋承恩) said.
Taiwanese should harbor no illusions about China, which is the nation’s main adversary, Sung said, adding that the KMT’s absence from the pledge undermines its lip service to defend the Republic of China.
Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) urged voters to reject politicians who might collude with the enemy.
Although the DPP’s mayoral and county commissioner candidates supported the pledge, some of the party’s candidates running for local posts did not sign it, Presbyterian Church in Taiwan representative Lin Wei-lien (林偉聯) said, before asking members of churches represented by his organization to not vote for such candidates.
China has long meddled in Taiwan’s elections and its operatives are waiting to see what will happen on Saturday, Taiwan Statebuilding Party Secretary-General Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) said.
The local elections will affect the perception of Taiwan internationally and has ramifications for the 2024 presidential election, Wang said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
RSS