Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday inaugurated her presidential campaign office, while calling on the public to support her as she faces a better financed and more well-connected opponent.
Surrounded by friends and supporters, Tsai served sweet rice ball soup — a traditional dessert served at house-warming parties — to celebrate the launch of her campaign office and donation Web site.
The entrance to the office is marked by a big circular logo, which Tsai said represents fullness and diversity.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The office design is simple, with bare walls and most of the furniture inherited from the office of the Ministry of Culture, which previously occupied the building.
MOUNTAIN OF GOLD
“Many people say that the KMT has deeper pockets, but we are not afraid because while the KMT is backed by its mountain of gold and silver, we are backed by the people,” Tsai said.
During her 2012 campaign for the presidency, 80 percent of the funding came from small public donations, “for which we handed out 180,000 receipts, which stood 18m tall when they were stacked up,” she said.
Tsai also announced that DPP Campaign Strategy Committee convener Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) would serve as her chief campaign director, while Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀), a long-time assistant and political associate of former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) — often considered a political rival of Tsai — would serve as the chief executive of her campaign.
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