Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen said in Los Angeles on Saturday that she has no plans to run in Taipei during the seven-in-one elections in 2014.
Tsai, who arrived in the US on Saturday for a two-week visit, made the comment in response to media inquiries on the sidelines of a Los Angeles Taiwan Center fundraising dinner, local media reported.
Citing a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) internal poll, local media reported that Tsai would be the favorite to win the 2014 mayoral election in Taipei over possible KMT candidates Vice Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰).
Tsai also commented on former premier Frank Hsieh’s (謝長廷) China visit and the heated discussion in the DPP on China policy, saying that she supported the normalization of the mutual dialogue between the DPP and Beijing, but the party would have to stand firm on its core values and basic position.
“The most important internal guideline [for the DPP’s China policy] remains the 1999 resolution on Taiwan’s future,” she said.
Tsai reiterated that she has no plan to visit China, but does not rule out the possibility, adding that there should be no preconditions for bilateral exchanges between the DPP and China.
Speaking to the overseas Taiwanese at the dinner, Tsai lambasted President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) economic policy of a “full-scale tilting toward China” as “chronic suicide.”
Ma’s policy could lead to a “magnetic effect” in which China would attract and absorb Taiwan’s investment, talent and technology, pushing the nation down the value chain, widening the wealth gap and eroding Taiwanese democracy, the former DPP chairperson said.
“If I may, I would like to say that Ma’s policy is depreciating Taiwan’s value in the global economic community. Even worse, it would be a policy of chronic suicide,” she said.
“Ma lacks core economic thinking and has always liked to take the easy way out by saying he supports economic liberalism,” Tsai said, adding that the Ma administration has been irresponsible and lazy because it did not know what to do and how to solve the problems.
“That is why he always says ‘let the market decide,’” Tsai said.
Tsai said it is important for the nation to upgrade its industrial structure and develop a sustainable economic model with brand-new thinking and innovation.
The former DPP presidential candidate is visiting the US to express her gratitude for overseas Taiwanese’s support during the presidential election.
She is scheduled to visit Los Angeles and San Francisco today before meeting with the Taiwanese Association-America in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday and attending a New York Taiwan Center event on Friday.
Tsai is also to visit some family members and former classmates, but that part of the itinerary is closed to the media, her office said.
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS