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.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS