Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday defended his criticism of several policies of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, saying they were not personal.
Chu made the remarks on the sidelines of a business forum in Taipei yesterday morning, when asked whether his criticism of the Ma administration’s major policies was an attempt to distance himself from the unpopular president.
“I have emphasized more than once that some policies are worth continuing, but those that are not should be re-evaluated,” Chu said.
“For instance, the direction of the government’s cross-strait policy is, without doubt, on target, but its 12-year national education program has been a magnet for criticism,” Chu said.
Chu, who is also KMT chairman, acknowledged during a radio interview on Wednesday afternoon with Sisy Chen (陳文茜) that the perceived poor performance of the Ma administration was the biggest impediment to his election prospects.
He cited Ma’s controversial proposal to levy a capital gains tax, 12-year national education program and raising of electricity and fuel prices as examples of the mistakes that the KMT government had made in the past seven years.
“We need to humbly engage in self-reflection on our mistakes. We must tell the public what we will do in the future to gain their support,” Chu said in the interview.
He added that he was to propose solutions to the nation’s educational conundrum later yesterday, such as by encouraging students to opt for nearby schools and promoting vocational education.
As for the capital gains tax — which has undergone two amendments since its implementation in 2013, with a third amendment proposed by the KMT on the way — Chu said the policy has basically come back to where it started and must be re-examined.
“Increases in fuel and electricity prices have also been hotly criticized. I am not saying that prices should be frozen, but it matters how and when they are raised,” he said.
Asked whether he was worried about his suggestions distressing Ma, he said he had talked to the president about his administration’s policies on multiple occasions.
“I have always felt that there is more that can be done to improve the aforementioned policies, so I must bring them up,” he said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that despite Chu’s efforts, his remarks were not enough to convince voters that the KMT had conducted profound and substantive self-reflection.
“Still, it is better than nothing,” she said.
Tsai said recent remarks made by several members of the KMT and the current administration involved in the TaiMed Biologics Inc (中裕新藥) case demonstrated their reluctance to admit and reflect on their mistakes.
It somewhat explains why the Ma administration is such a failure, she said.
Tsai was referring to allegations, which were later proven to be false, made by former Council for Economic Planning and Development minister Christina Liu (劉憶如) when Tsai ran for president in 2012.
Liu accused Tsai of violating revolving-door laws by investing in a biotechnology company. Several KMT heavyweights, including Ma, Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), weighed in on the accusations against Tsai.
Although Tsai was cleared of the accusations by a court in 2012, and the Taipei District Court on Tuesday ordered Liu to compensate Tsai NT$2 million (US$60,872) for defamation, the KMT caucus has refused to apologize to Tsai.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
RSS