Fri, Dec 08, 2023 page2

• Ko Wen-je says that he is ‘deep-green at heart’

  STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations

  • By Huang Ching-hsuan, Lin Che-yuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer
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  Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls.

  Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier.

  Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with Beijing.

  

  Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je speaks at a news conference in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District yesterday.

  Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times

  Taiwan should not neglect national defense or assume China is its enemy, he said, adding that the nation’s best defense lies in ensuring Beijing remains friendly.

  Ko said he would bring about the normalization of Taiwan’s international status if elected and the opportunity presented itself.

  However, insisting on being represented by a specific name would only weaken the nation, he added.

  Later yesterday, Ko said he supports the deep-green political camp, as he is a descendant of a White Terror survivor.

  He has never equivocated on his political leanings, said Ko, who is a physician.

  Ko said he helped his patients regardless of their political affiliation when he worked at National Taiwan University Hospital.

  “We all have different pasts, but share the same present,” Ko said. “The question is: Will we share the same future?”

  It was at his insistence that the TPP initially included a Chinese spouse in its list of legislator-at-large nominees, Ko said, adding that building a society of coprosperity is one of the party’s ideals.

  Ko said that Tsai has “done her utmost” while laboring under “the baggage of DPP ideology,” which is an impediment he would not face if elected president.

  Taiwan-US ties would not change regardless of which candidate becomes president, with the nation’s relationship with China being the only variable, Ko said.

  A poll released yesterday by online news firm My-Formosa.com showed Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the DPP’s presidential candidate, leading the three-way race with 40.1 percent approval.

  The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), was second with 31.6 percent, while Ko had 14.8 percent, a new low.

  DPP Legislator Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) told a news conference that Ko is “a master at mixing colors,” having changed his affiliation from green to white, and then to green again.

  “If he believes he is deep-green and identifies with the DPP, he should vote DPP,” Chuang said.

  “Voters do not need to choose a counterfeit when they can just get the genuine article” by voting for Lai, DPP Legislator Lin Yi-chin (林宜瑾) said.

  Additional reporting by Hsieh Chun-lin
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