Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday apologized for an inaccurate picture that was used in campaign material in an attempt to end a week-long battle of rhetoric between the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) over the prices of different persimmons.
In a recent campaign flyer printed in the format of a calendar, the DPP listed a dozen types of locally grown fruits, among them persimmons, that have plunged in price this year.
The persimmons shown on the flyer were non-astringent persimmons, which were being sold for at least 10 times the price of astringent persimmons, the fruit the DPP had meant to highlight.
Photo: Taipei Times
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the KMT subsequently accused the DPP of misleading the public by quoting incorrect prices and hurting farmers who grow non-astringent persimmons.
“I apologize for the misrepresentative picture and will ask our staff to be cautious with the information they put out in the future,” Tsai told an impromptu press conference in the afternoon.
The controversy over persimmon prices has taken center stage in the presidential campaign.
The KMT had demanded an apology to farmers about the flyer from the DPP, which, until yesterday, had refused to do so, saying the primary objective of the flyer was to highlight the supply and demand imbalance of Taiwan-grown fruits.
Citing “the Judgement of Solomon” — a biblical story in which King Solomon of Israel ruled in the case of two women who both claimed to be the mother of the same child — Tsai said the DPP was like the true mother who did not want to see her child being cut in half and thus decided to let go.
“Like a mother who will always care for her children, the DPP has always stood on the side of farmers and has never stopped caring through our proposed subsidies for elderly farmers ... as we are all children of Taiwan,” she said.
“We do not want to see any farmers getting hurt” by the controversy, she said.
However, the issue of supply-and-demand imbalance and the fact that astringent persimmons were being sold at NT$2 per jin (600g) were all true and the Ma administration should not evade its responsibility by turning the issue into a campaign tool by blowing it out of proportion, she added.
Tsai pledged that if she is elected next month, the government would not shy away from its responsibility of taking care of farmers.
She urged the Ma government to deal with the issue of the wellbeing of farmers from a long-term perspective, instead of handling it as a campaign issue.
Tsai, who on Wednesday said the picture mix-up was “regrettable,” decided yesterday morning to call the press conference and formally apologize, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said, adding that the press conference was an attempt to send out a clear message of what the DPP was trying to express, rather than “damage control.”
At a separate setting, Ma’s re-election campaign office spokesman Yin Wei (殷瑋) said the camp recognized Tsai’s willingness to offer an apology over the incident, but added that she and the DPP should apologize to farmers for their negative campaign.
“A belated apology is better than no apology at all. However, Tsai only apologized for putting incorrect -information in the campaign flyer. She should apologize to innocent farmers, who are the real victims of the negative campaign,” he said.
Yin said the KMT’s arguments over the price of persimmons were aimed at stating the truth over the incident, rather than creating -conflict with the DPP.
“It is the DPP that provoked the confrontation and distorted the truth for political gain. As the ruling party, it is the KMT’s responsibility to speak for the farmers and clarify the allegations,” he said.
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
RSS