A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) delegation visiting the US has called on overseas Taiwanese to put aside differences and unite in supporting President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in next year’s election.
“Our party’s primary is over and we must accept the result given by the public, who chose the best presidential candidate,” DPP Chairman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told a gathering of Taiwanese-Americans in the greater New York City area on Wednesday.
Cho is leading the delegation on a tour of four east coast cities — Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston — to meet with officials and think tank researchers, and attend events and summer camps organized by the Taiwanese-American community.
“We hope that people here can help her shoulder the responsibility and together we will give all our backing to Tsai Ing-wen,” Cho added, urging them to become campaign deputies for Tsai by persuading friends and relatives in Taiwan to vote for Tsai, and helping out with the daily tasks of the campaign effort.
“No matter who the winner of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] primary is, no one would believe that a KMT presidential candidate would speak up for Taiwan, although he should,” Cho said, after wishing the KMT a smooth primary. “So, I’m asking you to back Tsai and the DPP so that Tsai can win the presidential election in January next year.”
On Friday, in remarks to the Taiwanese American Conference (East Coast) at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, Chu, after thanking the conference for inviting him to speak at its 50th anniversary meeting, said that Taiwan’s top priority is defending itself against rising Chinese hegemony.
The support of overseas Taiwanese is crucial for the nation, he said, adding that Tsai and former premier William Lai (賴清德), her primary rival, have united in asking for their support of Taiwan, which is at a critical juncture on its path to becoming a stronger nation.
Lying before the nation is the work of “protecting the greater nation of Taiwan and balancing out the rising hegemonic state of China,” Cho said. “It is a fact that China has been infiltrating Taiwan with disinformation and red media.”
“We detest Taiwan being invaded by red media,” Cho added. “We will implement a solution that is effective at refuting and eliminating it.”
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