Accusing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of economic mismanagement, presidential candidate of the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) yesterday pledged to bring prosperity back to Taiwan.
"If I am elected, the new government will be one comprised of experts and professionals who know how to efficiently tackle the nation's problems," said presidential hopeful KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) at a campaign rally held last night in Tucheng, Taipei County.
"The new government would be one of love and reconciliation," he added, expressing his willingness to visit those who harbor different ideologies from him after he wins the election in order to gain a better understanding of others.
Switching gear, Lien then appealed to the crowd to support his election bid by campaigning on his pledges, among which including holding a regional referendum by the end of the year on the merging of Taipei City and Taipei County and his push for an enlisted military.
Lien, who is running on a joint ticket with his PFP counterpart James Soong (宋楚瑜), also restated his vow to donate his income to charity should he win the presidential election.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) were among the pan-blue camp's top figures who stumped for Lien at the rally last night.
Differing from its usual style of having Lien and Soong appear together at rally events, the alliance last night resorted to division of labor with Lien taking the stage at the rally in Taipei County while Soong appeared at a rally in Hsinchu.
While fervent pan-blue faithful at the rally sounded air horns and screamed "get elected," vendors were seen on the outer ring of the venue, taking advantage of the mass pan-blue supporters gathering and selling KMT-PFP party paraphernalia including Lien and Soong battery powered dolls, hats, jumpers and scarves.
The rally last night drew an estimated crowd of 30,000 supporters to the venue, according to Lien's campaign team.
Prior to taking the stage at Tucheng Stadium last night, Lien took part in a street procession during the day in Hsinchu city and county, which are known for their concentration of Hakka residents.
Accompanied by Hakka heavyweight KMT Vice Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and a number of pan-blue legislators, Lien stood on an open-topped jeep and waved to passers-by as his campaign team drove through the area.
In between, Lien make a stop at Yimin Temple (義民廟) appealing to crowd for support.
"Let's carry on our passion [displayed last Saturday] to March 20," Lien said, referring to the series of marches staged by the alliance across the nation last Saturday protesting against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
"On March 20, let's turn our passion into action, turn the strength into votes and turn confidence into victory," Lien said to his supporters.
In his speech, Lien fingered the DPP administration of being perfunctory with the nation's Hakka by only having one Hakka -- the chairwoman of the Council for Hakka Affairs Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) -- serving in its Cabinet team.
Lien pledged that he would have at least one Hakka heading one of the five Yuans in his new government should he win the presidency.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS