Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that pan-green camp politicians would not be excluded from his coalition government if he is elected.
Ko was responding to an appeal by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate and Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) to renounce all cooperation with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) if he becomes president.
KMT presidential candidate Hou You-yi’s (侯友宜) campaign urged Ko to vow to never form a coalition with the DPP in the Legislative Yuan or appoint its members.
Photo: CNA
“I do not understand this logic behind their excluding everyone else from government as soon as they get power,” Ko told reporters on the sidelines of door-to-door campaign in New Taipei City.
In response to a request to comment on a new KMT ad saying that a vote for Hou is a vote for Ko, he said that “voting for me straight-up will do. There is no need to do it in a roundabout way.”
Regarding former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) comment that Taiwan must trust Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in cross-strait affairs and reduce military spending, Ko said that he supports raising defense-related expenditures to 3 percent of the nation’s GDP.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan must be confident in the strength of its self-defense capabilities and have solid relations with its friends and allies before attempting to enter into dialogue with Beijing, he said.
“Nobody gets into this kind of thing by trusting the other side from the very beginning,” he added.
Separately, DPP spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) yesterday called a statement from Ko campaign’s policy on indigenous people “arrogant and ignorant,” adding that the candidate has a history of discrimination against women and less-fortunate people.
A report from the independent news outlet wuo-wuo.com cited the Ko campaign as saying the candidate would protect endangered species by “educating indigenous people to change their religion and hunting lifestyle.”
Chang said Ko has shown a lack of respect for indigenous cultures on many occasions and accused indigenous Taiwanese of “whining about nothing” at last year’s Indigenous Youth Forum.
TPP Legislator Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈), Ko’s running mate, was seen smiling and nodding when a supporter complained that there were too many indigenous people in Hualien and that the supporter was scared of them, he said.
“Ko’s consistent arrogance and ignorance revealed that he does not have the temperament and character to be a presidential candidate,” Chang said.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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