President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in her role as Democratic Progressive Party chairperson yesterday urged members of the public to vote “no” on all four referendum items on Saturday, calling on them to help “make Taiwan more powerful.”
Tsai convened a internal party meeting in Kaohsiung, from where her address was broadcast online.
Heads of local governments in southern Taiwan led by the DPP attended the meeting, including the mayors of Kaohsiung and Tainan.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan should continue on its successful path, Tsai said, citing as example that the nation’s GDP per capita is expected to surpass that of South Korea by 2025.
“The referendum vote this Saturday is very important and will have especially great impact on southern Taiwan,” she said.
Tsai said that her administration has provided support for southern Taiwanese cities and counties, and helped with industrial transformation and attracting investment.
“Kaohsiung has received a slew of good news in the past few days. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co will open a plant, and a number of US and German high-tech companies will set up facilities,” Tsai said, adding that the investment would help establish more high-tech industry clusters.
Each of Taiwan’s high-tech hubs would develop its own strengths, which would benefit the whole of the nation, she said.
“Thereby Taiwan will be able to stay in the lead in terms of international competitiveness,” Tsai said.
Residents of southern Taiwan should think of the region’s development when voting in the referendums, as the outcome would influence not just their daily lives, but also the south’s economic outlook, she said.
People should vote “no” on all four items because that would allow continuous economic growth, she said.
The DPP has worked hard to mitigate air pollution, which is a major concern for southern Taiwan, and a planned liquefied natural gas terminal off Taoyuan would help phase out the south’s coal-powered plants, Tsai said.
Southern Taiwan sells agricultural products in international markets and depends on the government adhering to international standards, she said.
Taiwan cannot harm its economic standing for the sake of animosity between the nation’s political camps, Tsai said.
On the ballot on Saturday are to be questions related to banning the importation of pork containing traces of the le+anness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine, relocating a natural gas terminal project to protect algal reefs off Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音), restarting construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) and holding referendums alongside elections.
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