Former premier William Lai (賴清德), who has registered as a candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential primary, in a livestream hosted by Internet celebrity Holger Chen (陳之漢) on Tuesday talked about the economy, reforms, nuclear energy and the primary.
Lai defined the DPP’s idea of an “independent Taiwan” as “Taiwan being an independent country named the Republic of China [ROC],” adding that there is no need to declare independence, as Taiwan fits every criterion of a sovereign nation.
Former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son, Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), supported taking back China for the ROC, Lai said, adding that if in the post-Chiang era their disciples were to accept unification, the ROC would cease to exist.
Screen grab from the Internet
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) New Year’s address was “tough” on national sovereignty issues and it is up to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to match her stance, Chen said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “five points” are pressuring the pan-blue camp to sign a peace accord, “but any such accord would be fake,” Lai said, adding that had a peace accord been useful, Tibet would not be in its current state.
He was referring to the 1951 Seventeen-Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, which promised religious freedom and autonomy for Tibetans.
“Taiwan should not become a second Hong Kong or Tibet,” Lai said.
He said he is running in the primary because pan-green camp supporters are worried that losing next year’s presidential election — along with fewer seats in the legislature — would be detrimental to the promotion of democratic values and the preservation of the nation’s sovereignty.
Responding to the issue of whether to grant a special pardon to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Lai called for judiciary reforms so that everyone can have a fair and just trial, adding that the public should consider the case with more leniency.
Holger Chen said that soldiers, police officers and firefighters should have a pension program different from that for office workers due to the dangerous nature of their professions, and criticized the government’s decision to reduce the military budget, as well as pensions and benefits for retired police and military officers.
Lai said that reforming the pension fund for civil servants, military personnel and public-school teachers was necessary, as it was facing imminent insolvency.
The reductions would ensure the fund’s survival, Lai said, adding that without the reforms, civil servants, military personnel and public-school teachers would have no pensions.
Commenting on promoting non-partisan politics, Lai praised a collaboration between the pan-green and pan-blue camps.
Holger Chen said that police should be given greater authority.
Protesters from the China Unification Promotion Party often stage protests at the gym he runs, Holger Chen said, adding that such gang-like behavior should not be protected just because they operate under the guise of a political party.
Lai said that amendments last year to the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例) provide greater leeway for police to crack down on gang-related activities.
Following the interview, Holger Chen was asked by reporters whether he supported Tsai or Lai, to which he said it would depend on their policies and stance on Taiwanese sovereignty.
People should retain their sovereignty and personal liberties regardless of which party is in power, he added.
Lai said that the interview was not purposefully scheduled to coincide with Tsai’s video conference with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Brookings Institution and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Two people were killed and another nine injured yesterday after being stung by hornets while hiking in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), with officials warning against wearing perfume or straying from trails during the autumn to avoid the potentially deadly creatures. Seven of the hikers only sustained minor injuries after being stung along the Bafenliao Hiking Trail (八分寮) and made their way down the mountain with a guide, the New Taipei City Fire Department said. Four of them — all male — sustained more serious injuries and were assisted when leaving the mountain, the department said. Two of them, a man surnamed
Recent movements by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been “highly unusual,” but the military maintains a grasp of the situation, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said on Friday, after the military for the first time said it was monitoring troop movements in China’s Dacheng Bay (大埕灣). The minister gave the remarks to reporters before appearing at the legislature on the first day of its new session. The Ministry of National Defense on Thursday evening released an air force surveillance photograph of a PLA Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, and said it was monitoring the PLA Rocket Force and ground
‘ABNORMITY’: News of the military exercises on the coast of the Chinese province facing Taiwan were made public by the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday Taiwan’s military yesterday said it has detected the Chinese military initiating a round of exercises at a bay area in coastal Fujian Province, which faces Taiwan, since early yesterday morning and it has been closely monitoring the drills. The exercises being conducted at Fujian’s Dacheng Bay featured an undisclosed number of People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) warplanes, warships and ground troops, the Ministry of National Defense said in a press statement. The ministry did not disclose what kind of military exercises are being conducted there and for how long they would be happening, but it did say that it has been closely watching
China’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong has asked foreign consulates in Hong Kong to submit details of their local staff, which is more proof that the “one country, two systems” model no longer exists, a Taiwanese academic said. The office sent letters dated Monday last week to consulates in the territory, giving them one month to submit the information it requires. The move followed Beijing’s attempt to obtain floor plans for all properties used by foreign missions in Hong Kong last year, which raised concerns among diplomats that the information could be used for