Vice President Willam Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate, yesterday said he and his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), are the choice for a responsible and stable government as he criticized the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party of steering the nation to be more dependent on China.
“The KMT claimed we can only depend on China for our economy. That time has passed. With Taiwan’s economic strength, we need not and must not go back to where we were,” Lai told the crowd at the rally held at the launch of his national campaign headquarters in Taipei.
Lai said his opponents have called for a controversial cross-strait service trade agreement with China, accepting the so-called “1992 consensus” and recognizing Taiwan and China as “one family on both sides of the Taiwan Strait” (兩岸一家親), adding that the KMT even said they want to allow Chinese students to work in Taiwan.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
The “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
“Allowing young people from China to work in Taiwan is to solve Beijing’s youth unemployment problem at the expense of Taiwanese young people’s future,” Lai said. “We cannot entrust our country to politicians of opposition parties, who want to give up our sovereignty, sacrifice our economic autonomy, tolerating the social impact in exchange for peace across the Taiwan Strait.”
As peace across the Taiwan Strait has become a global issue, the world is watching the direction Taiwan is heading and wants to increase partnerships with Taiwan, he said.
“This election is a choice on the direction Taiwan is taking. Choosing the Lai-Hsiao camp is to trust in Taiwan, a country that continues to open itself to the world,” Lai said.
Hsiao said she and Lai would continue the stable and steady leadership of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), so that Taiwanese can face the world with pride and dignity.
Tsai in her speech stumping for the Lai-Hsiao ticket at the rally said that next month’s presidential election is not a choice between war and peace, but a choice for Taiwanese to have peace with dignity.
“Everybody wants peace, and nobody wants war. However, we do not want Hong Kong-style peace. We want peace with dignity,” Tsai said.
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Traffic controls are to be in place in Taipei starting tonight, police said, as rallies supporting recall efforts targeting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers as well as a rally organized by the KMT opposing the recall campaigns are to take place tomorrow. Traffic controls are to be in place on City Hall Road starting from 10pm tonight and on Jinan Road Section 1 starting from 8am tomorrow, police said. Recall campaign groups in Taipei and New Taipei advocating for the recall of KMT legislators, along with the Safeguard Taiwan, Anti-Communist Alliance (反共護台聯盟), have previously announced plans for motorcycle parades and public
A tropical depression near the northwestern Philippines is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Danas by early tomorrow, becoming the fourth tropical storm of the season, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 8am today, the system was located approximately 370 kilometers southwest of Taiwan's southern tip, Cape Eluanbi, and has developed a more organized structure, forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The storm is currently moving slowly toward the Taiwan Strait in an east-northeast direction and may trigger a sea warning if it reaches tropical storm strength tomorrow morning. The system is expected to shift direction later tomorrow toward the north
‘ON THE RIGHT TRACK’: US analysts praised the ‘less scripted’ drills as strengthening defenses and resilience, as confusion and spontaneity are common in actual warfare This month’s annual Han Kuang military exercises are to feature six types of “gray zone” tactics used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with the aim of weakening their effectiveness, Chief of the General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) told the military yesterday. The 41st Han Kuang drills, scheduled from Wednesday next week through July 18, would simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion, with President William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday saying that Taiwan is already in a “war without gun smoke.” In a speech broadcast to officers and soldiers yesterday, Mei said that the six types of harassment are: legal warfare,
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