Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) paid a visit yesterday to DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign headquarters to show his support before Hsieh was set to appear in the first televised debate with his Chinese National Party (KMT) rival Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Hsu's endorsement of Hsieh was as an apparent move away from the pan-blue camp, with which he had been closely associated in the past few years, particularly during the campaign against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) initiated by former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) in August 2006.
Hsu praised Hsieh's long-term fight in the name of democracy and urged Taiwanese not to allow the KMT to holf a monopoly over politics in Taiwan.
PHOTO: CNA
Hsieh is among the few in the pan-green camp to have espoused rational and practical cross-strait policies, Hsu said, adding that Hsieh's voice as an executive leader would be more powerful than Ma's.
Hsu said he had always liked Hsieh's take on China-Taiwan relations and that while Hsieh and Ma's views on the matter did not differ much, Hsieh's experience as a civil rights activist made him a more competent candidate for democracy than Ma, whose experience Hsu said comes not from practice but from education.
Asked to comment on allegations that Hsieh had served as a informant for the KMT government, Hsu said his own experience of being misunderstood throughout his political life made him empathize with Hsieh.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
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