Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) submitted an 11th-hour presidential bid before registration closed yesterday, making him the third candidate to vie for the DPP ticket.
Hsu, a vocal critic of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration, said that while he realized he had a slim chance of winning, his bid would draw light to issues including growing income disparity and poverty.
“This is not the first time I have done this and my goal is to make society care about the issues I hold close to my heart,” he said. “This is my motive; I have no other motives.”
The former democracy activist arrived unannounced at DPP headquarters just after 3pm, signing registration papers and paying the NT$5 million (US$170,000) fee, which he had borrowed earlier in the day. This means that Hsu will be able to join the four televised DPP policy sessions and polls to be held next month.
Hsu has a somewhat mixed -reputation within the DPP, which he headed for two terms, from 1992 to 1993 and 1996 to 1998. Disillusioned with Chen, Hsu launched an independent presidential bid in 2000 and stumped for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in 2004.
However, he supported DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) in 2008 and rejoined the party after Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was elected chairperson in May that year.
During his announcement, Hsu praised Tsai and Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), the DPP’s two presidential frontrunners, who registered earlier this week, calling them “talented.”
He said that if either was elected next year, “I’m sure they would make a very good president.”
“However, I feel they need to do some rethinking on some of their basic [positions],” he said.
In a four-page statement given to the media, Hsu outlined his positions on social welfare and cross-strait relations, saying that deeper economic ties with China would benefit Taiwan’s tourism industry and the stock market.
“If the next Taiwanese president impedes Taiwan’s economic interests because of politics, they would not be a good president, regardless of how they or their supporters try to spin it,” he said.
Hsu’s participation in the DPP primaries will throw a curveball in what was to be a straightforward contest between Tsai and Su. Despite what he calls his slim chances of being elected, Hsu will nevertheless be in a position to play a major part in future policy sessions and be included in the telephone polls to select the candidate.
Several senior party officials were reportedly concerned over Hsu’s inclusion in the DPP primaries, fearing he could serve as a wildcard in upcoming negotiations between Tsai and Su.
Hsu has said he would not campaign over the next month, but he is expected to participate in the four televised policy sessions.
Initially, Hsu had hoped to register sooner, but was impeded by a lack of money, he said.
The NT$5 million fee — two-thirds of which would be returned if he dropped out of the race — was “borrowed from a friend,” he said, and would have to be repaid.
Asked to comment on Hsu’s entry in the race, Tsai said that though she found it surprising, she welcomed his participation in the primaries.
For his part, Su said that he hoped the primaries would proceed “without controversy.”
Su refused to say whether Hsu’s participation on the ballot could impact the telephone polls.
‘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 High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS