The chance for war with China would be lowest if he were elected, said Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate.
Lai made the comment during an interview on an online talk show on Saturday, after host Huang Wei-han (黃暐瀚) asked Lai to respond to statements by rival candidates about the threat of war in the Taiwan Strait.
Asked whether he was worried that such statements would affect the outcome of the election, Lai did not answer the question directly, but said that he was the candidate best suited to prevent the outbreak of war and protect Taiwan’s national security.
Photo: Tsai Cheng-min, Taipei Times
“National security and cross-strait peace do not depend on China’s goodwill, surrendering to China, accepting the [so-called] ‘1992 consensus’ nor giving up sovereignty,” he said. “We must rely on our strength, stand together with the democratic community and jointly deter threats.”
Lai said that, if elected, he would be willing to communicate and cooperate with China, as long as reciprocity and dignity were maintained.
He would also be committed to maintaining security across the Taiwan Strait and peace in the Indo-Pacific, which would be his “most important mission” as president, he said.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
In response, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) yesterday said that Lai’s statements in the interview related to cross-strait peace were inconsistent with his “Taiwan independence” mindset.
“The DPP has been in power for many years without engaging China in dialogue or communication, and has resorted to provocation at every turn,” he said. “Now Lai wants to talk about cross-strait peace. Lai, either please stop lying or just stand up and say you oppose Taiwan’s independence,” Hou said.
Hou referred to himself as “very pragmatic” and “very good at communicating with people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait,” which would allow him to “create opportunities for peace.”
Photo: Ge Yu-hao, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, doubts have been cast about a rumored alliance between the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) aimed at consolidating votes, after a proposal by KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) described as a “Japanese model,” under which equal weight would be given to the results of a public survey and a cross-party poll of opposition legislative candidates, was dismissed by TPP Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) as treating him “as a fool,” given that the KMT had 69 legislative candidates to the TPP’s 11.
Hou yesterday said that talks between the two parties are still ongoing, while Ko said he would “let nature run its course.”
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
RSS