The focus of next year’s presidential election should not be who the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) choose for their joint ticket, but about the suitability of who can determine the country’s future, a spokeswoman for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate William Lai’s (賴清德) campaign said yesterday.
Kuo Ya-hui (郭雅慧) said that Lai is the only candidate who has presented a blueprint for managing the country and responsibly proposed a vision of the government under their leadership.
The presidential election on Jan. 13 will determine Taiwan’s future, which is closely linked to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region, Kuo said.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
Taiwan must choose its path in this election and decide whether it will work to integrate itself into the international community or return to a course selected by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), in which the nation must rely on the goodwill of China, she said.
International polls show that the world is concerned about the situation in the Taiwan Strait, while global trends suggest that Taiwan and like-minded democratic countries are on the right path, she said.
In other election news, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) yesterday denied allegations that his visit to China this month was associated with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
The Chinese-language Mirror Media yesterday reported that upon Hsiao’s return from visiting China from Nov. 2 to Nov. 5, Ma’s office issued a statement that the former president supported using popularity polls to determine who would be on a joint KMT-TPP presidential ticket.
Hsiao said that Mirror Media’s source — allegedly a member of the of the campaign office of New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the KMT presidential candidate — was not well-informed, adding that Hou’s office should “get up to speed.”
DPP spokesperson Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) said it was “incredulous” how cooperative Ma’s office was to China’s demands.
Chang also said that the Chinese Communist Party was getting nervous as its attempts to influence the election have not been as effective, as the government has been educating Taiwanese about their methods.
Taiwan denounces any form of Chinese intervention in its elections, he said.
Alliances between political parties should be used to improve the country, not be the result of opportunistic calculations or Chinese influence, he said.
Chang called the so-called KMT-TPP alliance political power-grabbing, adding that the public would be better off voting for Lai.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
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