Supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have been advised to be tolerant and to give the Republic of China (ROC) “more space” in acknowledging that the “ROC is Taiwan and Taiwan is [the] ROC,” former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on Friday night in New York.
The former DPP presidential candidate made the remark in a speech at the Taiwan Center in Flushing, New York, the last public appearance of her two-week “thank-you” tour of the US, a press release provided by Tsai’s office stated.
DPP supporters should be tolerant of the ROC because “the sovereignty of this country remains within the hands of the Taiwanese, regardless of what its name is,” said Tsai, who arrived in New York after stops at Houston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Tsai, who lost her bid to head the country in the January presidential election, said the DPP should prepare itself and be ready to govern “from the first minute it returns to power” because Taiwan’s national development has been in crisis since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office, adding that there was no time to waste.
Speaking to more than 300 Taiwanese-Americans, Tsai said a stagnant economy, perilous government finances and under-fire democratic development are the three biggest crises currently confronting Taiwan.
“What we should be talking about now is not how to win the 2016 election, but what we should be doing for the good of this country and its people,” she said.
Highlighting the challenges to democracy in Taiwan, Tsai said that interference from third parties as well as unfair political structures and a sluggish economy pose major challenges to the country.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Beijing agreed upon, had played a pivotal role — allowing China to threaten Taiwan economically and allowing it to interfere in Taiwanese politics — in the outcome of January’s presidential election, she said.
The consolidation of Taiwan’s democracy as a result is important for Taiwanese because it would ensure they continue to enjoy free elections and the power to make decisions of their own free will, she said.
Tsai wished the Taiwanese-American community the best of luck after Hurricane Sandy hit vast swathes of New York, causing scores of deaths.
Tsai is scheduled to continue on a personal leg of her journey and is set to visit relatives and classmates in the US, her office said in a statement.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS