Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) is not asking people to ditch the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to help the People First Party (PFP) become the third-largest party in the Legislative Yuan, PFP legislator-at-large candidate Amanda Liu (劉宥彤) said yesterday, adding that Gou’s team aims to maximize the power of third parties.
“Gou clearly stated on Sunday that pan-green camp voters could consider voting for the TPP in the party ballot if they cannot support the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) this time,” said Liu, who was a spokeswoman for Gou while he was contesting the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary.
“He also called for support for the PFP from pan-blue camp voters if they are disappointed by the KMT’s performance,” she said.
Photo: CNA
“For moderate voters fearing that the DPP would seize an absolute majority in the Legislative Yuan again, he said that they should really consider supporting the PFP,” Liu said. “I believe he would maintain this position for election day.”
Liu made the statement before joining other PFP candidates to canvass for votes from campaign vehicles.
Despite failing to secure the KMT’s nomination, Gou continued to exert his influence on politics in Taiwan by having aides enter legislative races and supporting candidates of other parties who have aligned themselves with Gou’s camp.
Evelyn Tsai (蔡沁瑜) and Ann Kao (高虹安), also former Gou aides, are legislator-at-large candidates for the PFP and the TPP respectively.
Gou would try everything to help the PFP garner more party votes, from recording mobilization messages for robocalls to canvassing for votes on the streets, Liu said, adding that they would step up campaign efforts in Taipei and New Taipei City to show that the PFP is the party that can counterbalance the KMT and the DPP.
The principle that governs the strategy of Gou’s team is to maximize the force of third parties in the Legislative Yuan, she said, adding that Gou would spend more time campaigning for the PFP, because it needs to work harder to secure more votes from moderate voters who lean toward the pan-blue camp.
Gou’s team and the PFP would further integrate campaign resources in the days remaining before the elections, so voters would see a different PFP, she said.
Gou’s team and the TPP have jointly nominated Richie Lee (李縉穎) to contest the legislative seat for New Taipei City’s Tucheng (土城) and Sansia (三峽) districts, and the team and the PFP worked to nominate former KMT Youth League secretary-general Lee Zheng-hao (李正皓) to run in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和).
The two Lees are perfect examples of maximizing the power of third parties by combining the PFP, the TPP and independent candidates, Liu said, adding that they would help fulfill Gou’s promise to build a high-tech corridor in northern Taiwan.
PFP vice presidential candidate Sandra Yu (余湘) said that Gou’s robocall message would boost votes for the party, as he has a lot of supporters.
PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), its presidential candidate, and Yu started canvassing votes nationwide yesterday, the party said.
“Our experience from contacting voters in person is that approximately 20 percent of people have yet to decide how they are going to vote,” PFP Department of Mobilization Director Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) said. “They are generally young and remain undecided because they dislike Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) [the KMT’s presidential candidate] and are disappointed with the DPP government.”
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
RSS