The nation’s three presidential candidates yesterday clashed at the first platform presentation organized by the Central Election Commission, with each vowing to secure cross-strait peace and take better care of young people.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, was first to speak and wasted no time in criticizing Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate.
Hou said that he would resume operations at the Special Prosecutors’ Division to investigate allegtions of corruption reported over the past seven years.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Hou vowed to uphold the Republic of China Constitution and oppose the independence of Taiwan and China’s “one country, two systems” policy.
He said that Lai has never given up being an independence activist.
He dared Lai to permanently abandon the DPP’s Taiwanese independence guidelines.
Photo: CNA
“Lai pledged to build 130,000 public housing units in eight years, but I think that check is surely going to bounce, because he built none during his two terms as Tainan mayor,” Hou said, adding that he himself had provided housing loans to young people to build families.
Lai criticized Hou and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), saying that neither is fit to protect Taiwan.
“Mayor Hou, you said that you want to protect the Republic of China, but you also accept the so-called ‘1992 consensus,’ about which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has said is built on the ‘one China’ principle,” Lai said. “That would leave Taiwanese with no say over their future.”
The “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
“Chairman Ko, you said that the KMT cannot be trusted because it would quickly lean toward China if it takes office, but the KMT said that you would move much closer to China than it would,” Lai said. “In my opinion, you two are both ‘the pot calling kettle black.’”
Apart from saying that he would spend 3 percent of GDP on national defense, Ko spent the majority of his time addressing domestic issues.
He vowed to restore fiscal responsibility by abandoning special budgets.
“The KMT says that it wants to provide housing loans to young people, while the DPP says it wants to build more public housing and give people more years to pay back loans,” he said.
“I say that the key problem is high housing prices,” Ko said, adding that he would apply his experience in pursuing residential justice as Taipei mayor if elected president.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old