As the new chairman of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) is adopting a more moderate political stance, two TSU "allies" within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that they believed the DPP should follow suit.
DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said at a press conference that the DPP's presidential hopefuls should be open to debate about the party's political positioning so as to elect a candidate "who can find a better approach for the entire pan-green camp."
"The prevailing DPP strategy is facing an immediate crisis," he said. "Problems resulting from the president's poor achievements over the past few years and a decline in his popularity have cost us a considerable number of votes."
Cheng estimated that the DPP had lost last month's mayoral elections and the city councilor elections in 2005 by a total of 965,000 votes to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Only by choosing the party's future strategy could the DPP bridge the ballot gap, he said.
Cheng said that the TSU's decision to distance itself from its previous "extreme approach" meant that the DPP stance would be seen as being too radical, a situation for which "President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the party headquarters should be held responsible."
He added that the TSU and former president Lee Teng-hui (
"The TSU did the right thing and I believe the DPP is more capable [than the TSU] and should therefore move toward the middle," he said.
Approached by the media yesterday, former DPP legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), who advocated for a "middle approach," said it would be a positive development for the nation "if both the TSU and the DPP were to take the correct approach," without elaborating.
DPP caucus whip Yeh Yi-chin (
She said the TSU's shifting gear only showed that the TSU and Lee Teng-hui had recognized the new "political reality" -- in other words, that it had recognized the difficulties the DPP had encountered as the party in power.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the DPP had always maintained "Taiwan first" and "Taiwan value" as the core aspects of its philosophy.
He did not directly answer a media inquiry as to whether the DPP should change its approach, but said that no matter what the new TSU stance was, it would be impossible for it to depart from a Taiwan-centered approach.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS