Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said that unlike Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidental candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is only trying to solicit more votes and launching smear campaigns, he is focused on transforming Taiwan into a nation with greater economic competitiveness.
Chu made the remarks on the sidelines of a forum with the National Federation of Teachers Unions in Taipei yesterday morning, one day after Tsai accused the KMT of making false allegations regarding her property deals in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖).
The KMT has accused Tsai of reaping NT$180 million (US$5.4 million at current exchange rates) in profit from alleged speculative land sales in Neihu in 1997.
“You can see the policies I have proposed about boosting the economy. What I think about every day is increasing Taiwan’s competitiveness, while the DPP is engrossed in attracting more votes and carrying out mudslinging campaigns,” Chu said.
Chu said the DPP has been urging all presidential candidates to refrain from resorting to negative campaigning, but has attacked him with smear campaigns ever since his presidential nomination on Oct. 17.
Shrugging off an advertisement released on Sunday by Tsai’s campagin office that urged voters to hit back twice as hard at the KMT’s mudslinging tactics with their ballots in next month’s elections, Chu said Tsai should do more good if she wants society to pay her back double for her good deeds.
“Chairperson Tsai always urges us to [assuage controversies] by offering clear explanations. She should probably do the same [regarding her alleged land speculation],” Chu said.
Chu also attributed his low popularity to the DPP’s mudslinging and attacks in the past one-and-a-half months, which he said have successfully caused the public to doubt the KMT.
“It is not just me; the DPP has also sought to blacken the name of my running mate, [former Council of Labor Affairs minister] Jennifer Wang (王如玄), my family, my wife and most recently, my father-in-law. Is this the DPP’s so-called high-class campaign?” Chu said.
“If this is how Taiwan’s democracy works, then [the DPP] might win the election at the cost of our nation,” he said.
Chu was referring to DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang’s (段宜康) allegations yesterday that Chu’s father-in-law, Kao Yu-jen (高育仁), exported Taiwanese agricultural technologies to China through an organization called the Strait Academy of Modern Agriculture.
Tuan said the academy was jointly founded in August 2011 by the 21st Century Foundation, in which Kao serves as chairman, the China’s Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
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