New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) has triggered speculation over his stance on Saturday’s referendums after writing on social media that voters should exercise their independent judgement.
On the ballot are to be questions related to banning the importation of pork containing traces of the leanness-enhancing feed additive ractopamine, relocating a natural gas terminal project to protect algal reefs off Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音), restarting construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) and holding referendums alongside elections.
Writing on Facebook on Monday evening, Hou, a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), called on the public to make up their own minds on the referendums, saying that no one has the right to tell someone else how to vote.
Photo: CNA
“The referendums should be held after the public has calmly debated the issues with the help of experts, reason and science... Instead, they are treated as a straight-ticket vote and voters are being spoon-fed choices,” he wrote.
“The reason for holding a referendum is to make known the people’s will, and for them to weigh the pros and cons of each proposition in their own mind before arriving at a decision,” he said.
The nation cannot afford divisions and internal strife, Hou said.
His unchanging political belief is to “put the people’s welfare above all else, including the party, factions and my personal ambitions,” he wrote.
Hou told a news conference at the Shulin Civil Sports Center yesterday that the post “conveys the core belief that the people should decide after debating the issues with reason, science and logic.”
Asked to comment on Hou’s post, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) told a news conference at the party’s headquarters in Taipei that the KMT “has a duty to courageously state its position regarding the issues.”
Hou has a right to express his opinion to the party’s supporters, but politicians need to exercise the art of speaking carefully in a multi-party democracy, KMT caucus convener Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said.
“Of course, the party hopes that Hou would clearly communicate his stance. New Taipei City voters are an important part of the party’s base and a majority of the public supports the four referendums,” KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said.
Later yesterday, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), of the Democratic Progressive Party, told a news conference at city hall that Hou’s post shows that he opposes the KMT’s position on the referendums.
Numerous county commissioners and mayors have demurred from the KMT’s line of voting yes on all four referendums and Hou is expressing his dissent in a polite way, Cheng said.
The four referendums reflect the political extremism that hijacked the KMT under then-chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Cheng added.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS