Former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday announced he would run for the chairmanship of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in May, setting up a potential three-way race between Hsieh, incumbent DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for the leadership.
Speaking to the media before the party’s weekly Central Standing Committee meeting, Hsieh formally announced his bid for the election, saying he could better promote his political vision and initiative and speed up party reform if he was chairman.
Su and Tsai have yet to publicly announce their intention to run, but their eventual participation is widely expected.
Photo: Taipei Times
Su did not comment on the announcement, while Tsai’s office that said that every DPP member has the right to participate in the election.
The senior politician, who is in the moderate wing of the party on China policy, has spent the majority of the past three years advocating his initiative of “two constitutions, different interpretations” (憲法各表), and said the proposal would be the solution to ease bilateral tensions between the DPP and Beijing.
Hsieh has never denied reports of his preference for an alliance with Tsai to go up against Su, who is also believed to be interested in the DPP’s nomination for the presidential election in 2016.
Asked about a “Hsieh-Tsai alliance,” Hsieh reiterated that he still favored a “division of labor” because it would be difficult for a party chairman to serve as a presidential candidate at the same time.
Hsieh repeatedly mentioned his private talks with Tsai about the alliance, but Tsai’s office denied there had been such meetings.
The former premier hinted at his bid in his weekly radio talk show on Tuesday night.
“Entering the election is not an issue to me. Dropping out from the race is,” he said.
During the talk show, Hsieh said his efforts to promote his “two constitutions, different interpretations” initiative for more than three years had finally paid off, with a recent opinion poll showing that 61 percent of respondents supported the proposal as the backbone of the DPP’s China policy.
“That was why I called for the party to organize a China policy debate. The leader of this party must have a clear policy on cross-strait relations,” he said.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS