Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday lambasted the agreements reached at the economic forums held by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and said the forums "have been selling out Taiwan and they will continue to sell out Taiwan."
If the KMT wins the upcoming election, Hsieh said the communications set up between the two parties would become an official channel.
Without public oversight, interest groups and regional factions could participate in the forum and reach agreements with the CCP, leaving Ma with little alternative but to endorse them, he said.
PHOTO: CNA
With the KMT's legislative majority, the Taiwanese public would have no say on national policy, he said.
Under agreements reached at the forums Taiwan has invested more than NT$109 billion (US$3.5 billion) in China's experimental parks for cross-strait agricultural cooperation, but only NT$259 million in Taiwanese agricultural produce was exported to China in 2006, Hsieh said.
Hsieh said he was opposed to the "cross-strait common market" policy and thought it was strange that Ma ignored the "one China market" issue in his opening and closing remarks at Sunday's debate.
Hsieh said he suspected Ma did not have confidence in the policy.
In the debate Hsieh proposed putting the "cross-strait common market" policy to a referendum, urging voters who support the concept to vote for Ma and those who oppose it to vote for him.
Hsieh dismissed the policy as "irresponsible," saying that it was Ma's running mate, Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), not Hsieh who had coined the phrase "one China market."
Meanwhile, Hsieh attributed a slight decline in Ma's popularity to his opponent's performance during Sunday's debate.
A poll for the Chinese-language China Times placed the popularity of the DPP ticket at 22 percent, an increase of 1 percent from its previous survey, and that of the KMT ticket at 49 percent, a 4 percent decrease.
Another poll for the Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday showed that Hsieh's popularity had increased from 18 percent to 22 percent after Sunday's debate, while Ma's slid from 55 percent to 52 percent.
The poll also found that 46 percent of the respondents considered that Ma won the debate, while 28 percent thought Hsieh the victor.
The China Times poll showed 43 percent of respondents said Ma did a better job, while 27 percent said Hsieh won the debate.
Hsieh said that a candidate's popularity constantly fluctuates and he paid little attention to polls.
He said the reason that Ma's approval rating had dropped was because he dodged questions on the "cross-strait common market" policy during the debate and frequently changed his position on issues when he came under pressure.
"I, on the other hand, have been consistent and did my best to explain and defend my policies," he said.
Another poll released by the Southern Taiwan Society yesterday showed that Ma had the support of 41 percent of respondents, while Hsieh was backed by 38 percent.
Commenting on the switch of allegiance of a taxi association linked with the pan-greens, Hsieh's campaign team yesterday dismissed it as a KMT election gambit.
Hsieh spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said that there were many taxi associations in the nation and they supported different candidates. He said the campaign team was attempting to speak with each of them and seek their support.
Meanwhile, Ma yesterday condemned Hsieh for creating the term "one China market" in order to attack him.
"The so-called `one China market' is a scarecrow created by Hsieh. He has spared no effort in attacking the scarecrow, but what he has created does not exist," Ma said yesterday during a visit to Penghu (澎湖).
Ma said he and KMT vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
‘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
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
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS