Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday attended a series of events for supporter groups as they ratchet up their campaigns.
Lai launched a supporters’ club of religious groups in central Taiwan, with more than 500 organizations participating in the event in Taichung.
Taiwan’s religious freedoms have been acknowledged by the world and are manifest in the nation’s 17,800 temples, 1,500 religious foundations and 3,400 religious corporations, he said.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Taiwan received a perfect score on religious freedom and an overall score of 94 out of 100 points — placing it second in Asia, behind Japan — in this year’s Freedom in the World report compiled by US-based Freedom House, he said.
Taiwan is a great society because it allows religions to develop freely, he said.
Separately, 1,500 people gathered in Taichung to join Lai’s launch of a supporters’ club of young businesspeople.
Photo: CNA
The DPP is a peace-loving party, Lai told the group, adding that it fought for Taiwan’s democracy and would fight for peace.
Peace is not achieved by signing an agreement, which can be broken as it has been in Tibet and Hong Kong, he said.
However, Taiwan is willing to talk to China as long as the principles of dignity and equality are adhered to, he added.
Meanwhile, supporters’ clubs for Ko were launched in Kaohsiung and Pingtung.
The TPP aims to unite Taiwan and end the bitter rivalries between the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Ko told supporters.
The most important goal of January’s presidential election is to establish a united and independent Taiwan that can bravely face the world, he said.
The TPP is often criticized as lacking talent, but that might be an advantage, he said, adding that people do not believe major parties when they say they are forming a coalition government.
“People will believe us when we say we are forming a coalition government,” he said, adding that the TPP aims to gather talent from across Taiwan, regardless of their political leaning, to serve the country.
“Coalition government, unity of Taiwan” is the TPP’s slogan, he said.
Ko said he hopes that Taiwan is seen as Formosa — a beautiful island — instead of a dangerous place where war seems imminent, as depicted by foreign media.
Taiwan should be a bridge of communication between Beijing and Washington, not a pawn in the confrontation between the two, he said.
Taiwan should be a united and harmonious society, not a country of division and hatred, he added.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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