Former premier William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday said that he is the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) strongest presidential candidate and he is confident he can beat Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) if they face off against each other in next year’s election.
Han’s victory in November last year in Kaohsiung’s mayoral election — a city usually considered a DPP stronghold — must have been related to the policies of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, Lai said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times).
Han’s ability to attract tens of thousands of supporters to a rally on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard on Saturday last week showed that the DPP has not truly addressed the issues that led to its rout in the nine-in-one elections on Nov. 24, he said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“This is something that needs to be handled with caution,” as Han has cleverly taken advantage of the public’s dissatisfaction with the government and encourages such emotions, Lai said.
Under such circumstances, it is very important who in the DPP would represent the party in the presidential election, he said.
Tsai has her strengths and achievements, Lai said, but added that he too has received recognition and support from many throughout his two-decade political career.
Recent public opinion polls all indicate that “I am the party’s strongest presidential candidate and that I can beat Han Kuo-yu,” he said.
“If qingliu (清流) prevails over the ‘Han wave’ (韓流), Taiwan will be fine,” Liu said.
Qingliu means integrity, but it can also be interpreted as the “Ching wave,” a play on Lai’s first name.
While Han’s slogan is “make Taiwan safe and make people rich,” he has apparently placed all his hopes on China, the biggest threat to Taiwan’s safety, Lai said.
Safety and having money are both important, but “how can you seek to make money from China, which has openly threatened to annex Taiwan?” Lai said.
Han’s approach contradictory and unlikely to succeed, he added.
Unlike Han, Lai said that he proposes ensuring Taiwan’s autonomy and improving people’s happiness.
Han appears to think that as long as the government reaches an agreement with China, Taiwan would be safe and people could make more money, Lai said.
What Han has not said is that such an approach comes with a price, namely Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy, he said.
“How would China ensure your safety when it wants to annex you? Placing all hopes of safety and getting rich on China exacts too great a price, as it would require us to give away our sovereignty, and that should never be traded for anything,” Lai said.
Taiwan must be autonomous in areas including national defense and economy, he said, adding that it is the only way to ensure the nation’s sovereignty and democracy and an essential condition for people’s happiness.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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