China’s military personnel cuts will not necessarily reduce its might, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) earlier this week announced that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would reduce personnel by 300,000.
Tsai said that while the cuts would not necessarily reduce China’s military power, she took note of the Chinese government’s declaration that the PLA would not seek hegemony.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
She said she hoped that China would sincerely work with other nations to maintain regional peace and stability, adding that strengthening Taiwan’s armed forces was still necessary to protect the nation’s security, democracy and way of life.
In other news, Tsai said she has no intention of following Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) in taking time off from the campaign trail.
Following Hung’s announcement earlier this week, it was reported that People First Party (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) would “shut himself in” and temporarily avoid any public events.
When asked if she felt the campaign atmosphere was “weird,” Tsai said “it is not uncommon” for a candidate to arrange for a period of time to “settle” and rest during a campaign, adding that she respected the other two candidates’ arrangements and hopes that they rest well.
When asked if she was considering taking a break, Tsai quickly said that she was not “running while lying down” — an expression that media outlets and political commentators have often used to describe Tsai’s campaign, as she continues to lead the other candidates by a large margin.
Tsai did not comment on whether Soong’s decision was tied to controversy surrounding PFP Secretary-General Chin Ching-sheng (秦金生). Earlier this week, Chin was a member of a delegation headed by former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) of the KMT that controversially attended a Chinese military parade after meeting with Xi.
Upon returning to Taiwan yesterday, Chin said that although he was in the delegation, he did not attend the military parade.
Tsai was speaking to reporters in Taipei at a news conference to release her campaign music album, which features songs written and performed by independent musicians that were selected in part by the public through an online vote.
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