Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday conceded defeat and promised to "keep all his promises" following his loss in the presidential election.
Hsieh lost to his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou (
This is the second election setback for the DPP this year. It lost to the KMT in the legislative elections in January, with the KMT securing a strong majority.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Hsieh had said in the run-up to the election that he would quit politics if he lost. It is also customary in the DPP for the party chairman to bear the political responsibility for an election defeat by resigning from the post.
Hsieh, however, did not say anything about stepping down last night after talking to supporters who gathered outside his campaign office after the election result was released.
With the crowd chanting "Frank Hsieh, don't go" and "jiayou" (an expression of encouragement), Hsieh led his campaign team in bowing to the public and apologized to the people of Taiwan for failing them.
"This is my personal setback, not the failure of Taiwan," he said. "It is the outcome of democracy and not a failure. Don't cry for me tonight. I will continue to protect Taiwan and its people. My life is here, not anywhere else."
Hsieh said he was sorry that his party's performance failed to meet the expectations of the public and that he should be held responsible for the defeat.
"The people of Taiwan used their ballots to make a decision today," he said. "I accept the result of the election and I want to offer my congratulations to my competitor."
He urged DPP supporters to accept the election result and to face the loss calmly. Although the process was disputable, Hsieh said, he would accept the result and urged his supporters to do the same.
"Let's mend the fractures caused during the election process so that people can again live in an environment that is full of love and trust," he said.
Although the DPP lost the election, Hsieh said, there was a more important thing to do: to carry the torch of democracy.
"Let's turn our disappointment into power and continue to protect democracy," he said.
The country's development had never been plain sailing, Hsieh said. But the bigger the wind, the more determined we are, he added.
"We will always be with the people," Hsieh said. "I sincerely pray for Taiwan and we believe in the people and this land."
Hsieh thanked the hard work and contributions of his campaign team and volunteers. He said he would never forget the people whose hands he touched at the "million people high-five" rally organized by his party last Sunday.
Hsieh said he was deeply touched by the passion of the people that day and would forever remember their enthusiasm. He said he would use that enthusiasm to inspire himslef to continue to love Taiwan.
Meanwhile, President Chen Shui-bian (
In addition to extending their congratulations to Ma and his running mate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Chen and Lu pledged to hand over power to the 12th president and vice president.
Chen and Lu praised the maturity of Taiwan's politics and the democratic accomplishment of its people.
GREAT POWER COMPETITION: Beijing views its military cooperation with Russia as a means to push back against the joint power of the US and its allies, an expert said A recent Sino-Russian joint air patrol conducted over the waters off Alaska was designed to counter the US military in the Pacific and demonstrated improved interoperability between Beijing’s and Moscow’s forces, a national security expert said. National Defense University associate professor Chen Yu-chen (陳育正) made the comment in an article published on Wednesday on the Web site of the Journal of the Chinese Communist Studies Institute. China and Russia sent four strategic bombers to patrol the waters of the northern Pacific and Bering Strait near Alaska in late June, one month after the two nations sent a combined flotilla of four warships
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
TAIWANESE INNOVATION: The ‘Seawool’ fabric generates about NT$200m a year, with the bulk of it sourced by clothing brands operating in Europe and the US Growing up on Taiwan’s west coast where mollusk farming is popular, Eddie Wang saw discarded oyster shells transformed from waste to function — a memory that inspired him to create a unique and environmentally friendly fabric called “Seawool.” Wang remembered that residents of his seaside hometown of Yunlin County used discarded oyster shells that littered the streets during the harvest as insulation for their homes. “They burned the shells and painted the residue on the walls. The houses then became warm in the winter and cool in the summer,” the 42-year-old said at his factory in Tainan. “So I was
‘LEADERS’: The report highlighted C.C. Wei’s management at TSMC, Lisa Su’s decisionmaking at AMD and the ‘rock star’ status of Nvidia’s Huang Time magazine on Thursday announced its list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI), which included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) and AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰). The list is divided into four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Wei and Huang were named in the Leaders category. Other notable figures in the Leaders category included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Su was listed in the Innovators category. Time highlighted Wei’s
RSS