Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said yesterday presidential candidates from opposition forces should stand firm on Taiwan’s sovereignty and denied ever suggesting that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should team up in the presidential election next year.
On his Facebook page, Lee said the opposition parties should choose presidential candidates that will insist on the nation’s sovereignty, strive for the future of the nation and be able to win the battle against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who will seek re-election.
“We need to unite and make Taiwan’s interests the priority in order to abandon Ma, save Taiwan and expand our support base. I was talking about the principles, and not about whether political parties or any politicians should team up for the election,” Lee said.
The former president posted his comments on Facebook a day after Japanese magazine WiLL ran an interview.
In the interview published on Thursday, Lee was quoted as saying that the timing wasn’t ripe for DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to run for president and he suggested that the DPP could choose a vice presidential -candidate to pair up with a KMT presidential candidate.
He was also quoted in the interview as saying that Tsai might risk repeating the mistakes of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and would be unable to carry out policies in a minority government if she ran for president next year.
Lee said yesterday that it did not matter how the presidential and vice presidential candidates are chosen or whether political parties cooperate in the presidential election next year.
“For the battle in 2012, pro--localization forces should unite and take over power with an absolute majority so we can continue reform, promote Taiwan consciousness and pursue Taiwan’s normalization,” he said in the Facebook post.
Commenting on the subject, KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday said the party would not discuss candidates for the presidential election at this time, because it was focusing its efforts on improving the lives of the public as the ruling party.
“Thinking about the arrangements for the 2012 presidential candidates is against public expectations. The KMT’s priority is to improve people’s lives and strive for economic prosperity,” he said.
DPP spokesperson Lin Yu-chang (林右昌), meanwhile, said yesterday that the DPP has its own nomination system for choosing a presidential candidate.
Lin said a meeting has been set for Jan. 22 for the DPP to discuss its nomination mechanism and other matters concerning next year’s presidential campaign.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military