The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday announced a list of 10 “broken promises and failures” of President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration, from tariff negotiations to energy policy.
As Lai marked his first year in office, the KMT accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of waving the “flag of democracy while wielding dictatorial control.”
First, talks with the US regarding tariffs announced early last month have failed, with Lai’s government handing over Taiwan’s interests on a platter, the KMT said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Second, Lai is “selling out” Taiwan, having recently described cross-strait relations as a small business versus a big company, saying the two sides could discuss the terms of a merger and acquisition, it said.
Taiwanese sovereignty is not a product for sale, and is not a bargaining chip for the DPP, the KMT said.
Third, the judiciary has become a political weapon and democracy is an “empty shell” under Lai, it said.
Rational political discourse has become empty words, while the silencing of the opposition has become routine, the party said.
Problematic energy policies, such as the shutting down of all of Taiwan’s nuclear power reactors, have left Taiwanese angry and without power, it said.
The party’s sixth complaint was that the amount of financial fraud has reached a record high, while efforts to stop it have been ineffective.
In the seventh criticism, the KMT said that although the budget increased from last year, overworked public healthcare personnel are under threat.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare budget reached NT$370 billion (US$12.26 billion), but there is still no way to prevent the collapse of the healthcare sector, it said.
At No. 8, the KMT said the Lai administration has repeatedly called for reconsiderations and reviews of bills passed by the legislature, showing that the will of the people does not match the will of the DPP.
The party also accused the administration of repeatedly shirking responsibility for the case of Kai Kai (剴剴), a one-year-old boy killed in foster care in 2023.
Last, the Cabinet under Lai has bullied and intimidated subordinates, while misappropriating public funds, it added.
Separately, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that Lai should slow down and stop “protesting China,” which is hurting Taiwan.
However, he said Lai had recently made some adjustments in his comments on China, showing more flexibility and goodwill toward resolving the “deadlock” between the two countries.
Hopefully Lai would continue to approach cross-strait relations with that attitude, he said.
Lai should handle new global developments with more caution to ensure Taiwan’s security by maintaining a balance in relations with the US and China, Ma said.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) told a news conference that Lai should have held talks with the opposition’s leadership in the first year of his term, but waited too long to open a dialogue.
The DPP was tearing society apart, Huang said, adding that he would only accept talks with the Lai administration if it negotiates without preconditions.
The TPP in a separate news release said that the state of the nation in the past year proves that Lai was lying to himself and the public, citing stalled talks on the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade and the nation’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Lai’s administration also did not present an effective strategy to respond to US tariffs, it said.
The nation fought hard for its democracy and must not return to the road to authoritarianism by leaning on the scales of justice, the party said in a reference to an anti-corruption case involving its former chairman, Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), and other party members.
Additional reporting by CNA
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