Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) toured the nation's Hakka region yesterday to campaign for TSU candidates, calling them professional politicians who will cease the war of words and focus on legislating if elected.
Lee dubbed these legislative-hopefuls "the top graduates from the school of Lee Teng-hui." The ex-KMT chairman said that only by sending these graduates to the legislature can his "Taiwan's first" policy be realized and the nation's political chaos ended.
PHOTO: HUNG MIN-LUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Lee received a warm welcome during his six stops in the northwestern part of the country yesterday, with thousands of supporters shouting "President Lee, we love you" wherever he went.
The 78-year-old Lee said his hectic campaign activities have prompted concern about his health, but said "it is Taiwan, not my health, that is of great significance."
"Despite my age, my mind is very clear. I have to stand up to fight for a better future for Taiwan. I cannot sit and wait to see Taiwan engulfed by China," Lee said while attending the opening of Tzeng Ju-mei's (
Unlike previous campaign language used to lambaste rival political groups, Lee's speech yesterday was toned down, focusing more on constructive national policies, especially on how to fix the country's deteriorating economy.
"I am tired of the verbal sparring [from rival parties]; it is meaningless and I will stop making any response. What's more important is how to improve Taiwan," Lee said.
Providing the remedies to cure the nation's economic woes, the first democratically elected president said the most urgent task is to create more job opportunities and create the nation's lowest unemployment rate ever.
For instance, Lee said, the government should open industrial zones for small enterprises for free, lower the business tax and cut the interest rate of bank loans.
"Creating incentives is the only solution for the government to stop the great exodus of capital to China," Lee said.
Feeling anxiety from farmers worried that Taiwan's imminent entry to the WTO would hurt the country's agricultural sector, Lee told supporters at the rally, most of whom make a living from farm products, to put their fears to rest.
He told them that the government is well prepared for the change financially and suggested they adjust their production techniques. "Instead of relying on farming, you should shift the focus to the processing of products."
To boost to the region's stagnant economy, Lee encouraged people to take advantage of the country's geography to develop tourism, such as building up hot-spring resorts.
On the political front, Lee suggested streamlining the legislature. Lee recommended cutting the number of seats, now at 225, in half, which would save NT$25 billion for public construction.
Lee also took the opportunity to condemn a politician from the opposition camp -- Taipei City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (
"This [form of criticism] is the most evil means of generating publicity in year-end election polls. Smart voters should not cast votes for him," Lee said.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
RSS