Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday reiterated that her cross-strait policy is no different from that of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), a day after KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said her policy deviated from the mainstream and that the party has decided to call an extempore congress to consider a new candidate.
Speaking at the World Peace Congress held by the Chinese World and Nation Peace Association, Hung said she is “still the presidential candidate nominated by the KMT.”
Addressing the crowd, Hung said she was “alone on the stage” as the president had just left.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
She recounted her candidacy from the first day she registered for the KMT primary.
“I have felt this solitude since the day I registered for the primary, but I have not been alone or lonely, since I have many friends supporting me. Today, there are people who said it felt awkward as they do not know how to address me. It is not. I am the deputy legislative speaker of the Republic of China, and currently still the KMT presidential candidate,” Hung said.
She said that Ma “once publicly stated on television that my cross-strait policy is no different from his.”
“My ‘one China’ is the Republic of China,” she said, adding that Ma’s cross-strait policy has gained people’s trust and reflects mainstream public opinion.
While there is very little difference between her cross-strait policy and Ma’s, hers is “clearer on certain aspects,” Hung said.
She highlighted the need for a peace agreement, saying that to secure the achievements Ma has made in cross-strait relations over the past seven years, there needs to be “a breakthrough and a deepening of the [so-called] ‘1992 consensus.’”
Ma, who left yesterday’s event early, had a chance to shake hands with Hung before leaving. He did not respond to media queries about Hung’s cross-strait policy and whether he would talk her out of the race. He said he would stand by the decision made by KMT headquarters.
Separately, World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce president Jonathan Huang (黃正勝), who is also the head of a Hung supporters’ club within the association, said Hung’s comment on the “eventual unification” with China worries many Taiwanese businesspeople.
“Cross-strait relations should have been the KMT’s forte. Why has it become a problem [for the party], which has aroused the concern of many overseas Taiwanese businesspeople? Why talk about ultimate unification? There is no need to stir up a hornet’s nest,” Huang said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
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
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