Opposition politicians failed to agree on a united approach to the January elections during a chaotic meeting that was broadcast live yesterday, ahead of the 5pm deadline for registration today.
In a last-ditch effort to revive faltering negotiations, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) invited the other opposition candidates, independent Terry Gou (郭台銘) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), to talks at the Grand Hyatt Taipei at 4:30pm.
Gou was the first to arrive in the venue, followed by Hou at 4:46pm, who was accompanied by KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), also of the KMT.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
Gou’s campaign said it had originally planned to hold closed talks between the three candidates on the 25th floor of the hotel, but the KMT insisted on live-streaming the discussion with Chu and Ma also present.
Ko and Gou entered late to the room, leaving the KMT members alone at a desk next to a digital clock counting down to the registration deadline at 5pm today.
The combative tone was set early, with spokesmen for Gou and the KMT trading barbs before the final two participants arrived.
Photo: CNA
Gou, who was appointed leader of the talks, said that if the discussions were still only between the KMT and the TPP, he would leave.
At one point, Hou brought out his phone to read text messages from Ko saying that Gou needed a reason to withdraw from the race.
Ko took issue with Hou reading their private messages, saying it is “something that only celebrities and their wingmen would do.”
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
Hou responded that he read it with Ko’s permission, and he could have refused.
There was some discussion of the disagreement in polling analysis that stymied initial coalition talks last week, with Chu suggesting that the two sides discuss collaboration without dwelling on the dispute, as the polls consistently showed that a united opposition in any form would be victorious in January.
However, the participants did not reach an agreement during the 90-minute event and they at one point left for a break after Gou excused himself. He did not come back until the KMT delegation’s departure.
Photo: Reuters
The meeting ended at the 6:30pm deadline with the KMT members leaving after Gou’s spokesman suggested that the party tried to manipulate polls from earlier in the year.
Gou and Ko stayed a few more minutes to speak with reporters, with Gou again expressing discontent at being relegated to a witness rather than participant, but adding that “the sun will rise again tomorrow.”
The KMT held its own news conference after the meeting, saying it would “wait until the last moment” and calling for a return to the original six agreements reached with the TPP on Wednesday last week.
However, according to a schedule posted by the TPP later in the evening, Ko is to go to the Central Election Commission at 11am today to register his candidacy, leaving doubt that an agreement would be reached before then.
The schedule did not mention who would be accompanying Ko to the office.
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-yi
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the