Next year’s presidential and legislative elections offer a choice between war and peace, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.
“Vote for the KMT [Chinese Nationalist Party], and there will be no battlefield across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
Speaking at a flag-raising ceremony hosted by the KMT at its headquarters, Ma said the “resist China, protect Taiwan” policy promoted by the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration over the past six years had caused an unprecedented increase in cross-strait tensions.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) cross-strait policy is out of tune with public opinion and has lost public support, said Ma, who served as president from 2008 to 2016.
Taiwan should not only prepare for war, but also avoid war, he said.
Avoiding war means not being provocative, and as a gesture to that end, Taiwan should reopen the “small three links” as soon as possible to ensure national secutiry along with the well-being of Taiwanese, he said.
The “small three links” refer to direct trade, postal and transport services between China and the Taiwanese outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu. The links were initiated on Jan. 1, 2001, but were suspended in February 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regarding Tsai’s restoration of one-year mandatory military service for young men, Ma said: “Vote for the DPP, youth go to the battlefield. Vote for the KMT, there will be no battlefield on either side of the strait.”
Ma credited KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) for substantial gains in the mayoral and councilor elections on Nov. 26. The KMT won 14 of the 22 city and county leadership posts being contested.
With morale bolstered within the KMT, Ma said the party should work toward victory in the Taipei and Nantou legislative by-elections later this month and in March respectively, as well as the presidential and legislative elections next year.
Addressing the ceremony, Chu said that the KMT is determined to win the legislative by-elections and nominate strong candidates for the national elections.
The KMT must “walk the right path and select the right people” to run in next year’s elections, and must be “selfless and united” to achieve its goals, he added.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and