Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate, officially opened his national campaign headquarters in Taipei yesterday, with the participation of party leaders including President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Lai and campaign staff gave a tour for Tsai and other party officials, and introduced the interior, visual displays and decorative items with the theme of baseball and “Team Taiwan,” a homonym in Mandarin also meaning “give strong support for Taiwan” (挺台灣).
“Lai can lead our nation to progress in technical innovation and new prosperity. Among all presidential candidates, William Lai is the most well-prepared and most suitable candidate having the leadership for Taiwan to stride forward,” Tsai said.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Photojournalist Society
Tsai pointed out the interior decor and said: “Everyone knows that he [Lai] is a passionate baseball fan. Running an election campaign is much like playing baseball, where the on-field situation could change in an instant, and every inning has its unique circumstances.”
“When the game is on, a team must take up smart strategies and adapt to changing situations. It is vital to seize every scoring opportunity and to defend against each opponent’s turn,” she said. “A baseball game is not played by a single person, and all players matter; it is important to cooperate and execute the strategy to win.”
Lai said that the campaign headquarters is in the same place as Tsai’s campaign office during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
“This place is blessed with good fortune, and it will carry us to victory,” Lai said. “Taiwan can be stronger on the path to democracy.”
Lai thanked the designers for the decor expressing his personal love of baseball, the most popular team sport in Taiwan.
Visitors upon entering are met with a visual that reads “Team Taiwan” over a graphic representation of Jade Mountain, the nation’s highest peak, along with the slogan “The MVP of Democracy” on the adjacent wall. There is a visual of rolling giant baseballs on a wall, while the floor of the office is green, representing the outfield of a ballpark.
Lai said members of the design team are young people, as he lauded them along with others working for his campaign, adding that they provided hope for Taiwan’s future.
“It is like President Tsai said in her address, running an election campaign is like playing baseball, which requires good teamwork. To build up our nation, we also need a good team — made of people from all occupations and all sectors — to unite in this effort, endeavoring to strengthen Taiwan and make a better future. In doing so, Taiwan can also make more concrete contributions to the world,” Lai said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard