Former vice premier Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) vowed to closely monitor the incoming Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration’s handling of cross-strait policies if she were to win the contest to lead the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
The KMT might be too “radical” in enhancing ties between Taiwan and China in the hope of delivering on its economic promises and that would cause permanent damage to the nation, Tsai said during a radio interview yesterday.
“It’s unlikely that Taiwan will be ‘sold out,’ but it’s a worry that the country’s sovereignty may be sacrificed to economic development or other purposes,” the former chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council said.
Enhancing cross-strait ties is listed in Tsai’s 12-point election platform, but Tsai said that defending Taiwan’s sovereignty should be an uncompromising premise.
In the run-up to chairmanship election on May 18, Tsai and her two rivals — former senior presidential advisor Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) and DPP Legislator Chai Trong-rong (蔡同榮) — yesterday picked up the pace in canvassing support.
Yesterday Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟), former secretary-general of the Presidential Office, said Tsai should team up with Koo as his deputy. Chai yesterday also invited Tsai to be his deputy if he were to win.
Chen made his suggestion to DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) during their private meeting yesterday. Hwang Kun-hu (黃崑虎) of Tsai’s camp also attended.
“Both Chen and Hwang said that they supported Koo being chairman and Tsai being his deputy and Chai would consider dropping out of the race in that case,” Hsieh said.
Hsieh added that the meeting was unbinding as it was not a formal meeting.
“We haven’t worked out a proposal to coordinate a candidate to be the [next] chairman,” Hsieh said.
Some of the DPP’s younger members, however, were not in favor of the proposal and Tsai was warmly welcomed when she visited the party’s legislative caucus convention to drum up support.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
STAY VIGILANT: When experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, such as dizziness or fatigue, near a water heater, open windows and doors to ventilate the area Rooftop flue water heaters should only be installed outdoors or in properly ventilated areas to prevent toxic gas from building up, the Yilan County Fire Department said, after a man in Taipei died of carbon monoxide poisoning on Monday last week. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), an assistant professor at Providence University in Taichung, was at his Taipei home for the holidays when the incident occurred, news reports said. He was taking a shower in the bathroom of a rooftop addition when carbon monoxide — a poisonous byproduct of combustion — leaked from a water heater installed in a poorly ventilated
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