Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) and Executive Yuan Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday traded barbs at a campaign event ahead of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson election on Sunday next week.
The televised event in Taipei started with the candidates each making a speech about their policies and vision before they asked each other questions.
Before taking the stage, Chou said on the sidelines that he could not persuade DPP members not to vote for You, but he would let them realize for themselves which choice would benefit the party.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“Is it taking 100 lonely steps? Or is it taking one step by uniting 100 people?” asked Cho, who is backed by a group of “middle-generation” DPP politicians, including Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) and Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲).
You on the sidelines said he has not only 100, but tens of thousands of grassroots supporters, all of whom decided to support him of their own accord after seeing the party’s “meaningless” reflection on its election defeats last month.
“The grass roots are both indignant and worried,” You said. “They are upset about the dominant faction [in the DPP] and are at a complete loss after seeing that faction rallying behind a candidate.”
“According to them, my entry in the race has given it meaning,” he added.
During their speeches, the two accused each other of attaching labels.
Cho expressed frustration with You’s accusation that he is a “royalist” and criticized You’s campaign tactics as “divisive.”
You said that he was only telling the truth, and by calling him divisive, Cho was the one attaching labels.
Questions such as what mistakes President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) had made and why people decided to “teach the DPP a lesson” must be answered, or else the party is on a course of greater defeat, he said.
The biggest problem facing the DPP is that its powerful members are reluctant to speak the truth, You added.
During cross-questioning, Cho ridiculed You for “having never won” an election and asked him whether he has a “winning plan.”
He was referring to You’s electoral losses when representing the DPP in his bid for Hualien county commissioner in 1997 and for legislator in 1998 and 2001.
You said he was disappointed in Cho for asking such a “childish” question.
He was drafted by the party on all three occasions, You said, adding that even though he lost to former Hualien county commissioner Wang Ching-feng (王慶豐) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), he had netted the largest number of votes the DPP had garnered in the KMT stronghold to date.
“Run [for commissioner] in Hualien. Let’s see how many votes you get,” You said.
Cho also panned You for “exposing many problems” with his foundation, but not solving any.
You fired back by saying that his job as the head of a nongovernmental organization is to identify problems with the government, which is responsible for solving them.
He said he has offered Cho the foundation’s findings on many occasions, but the government has been slow to respond to public opinion.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition