Taiwan’s vice presidential candidates yesterday clashed over relations with China, and the nation’s digitalization and green transition at a Central Election Committee (CEC) policy presentation, which was broadcast live.
CYNTHIA WU
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈), the first candidate to speak, largely stayed out of the ideological strife between the pan-green and pan-blue camps, and emphasized her business knowledge and domestic livelihood issues.
Photo: Screengrab from TTV News livestream
She pledged to promote a full transition to a digital and green economy including digitizing political participation to allow absentee ballots, developing green finance to attract investors and cracking down on fraud, should she be elected.
Wu also criticized the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) energy policy, saying that net zero goals cannot be achieved without using nuclear power.
JAW SHAW-KONG
Following Wu, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) began his speech by saying DPP presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德) had profited from illegal land use.
Jaw also talked about national identity and China policy by recalling Lai’s self-description as a pro-Taiwanese independence political worker and criticized the rise in defense spending and conscription under DPP leadership.
As the rise in defense spending and the reinstatement of conscription by the DPP government shows, voting Lai into power would lead to more tension with China, he said.
Jaw also said the DPP was wrong for supporting the phaseout of nuclear power while pursuing a net zero goal.
HSIAO BI-KHIM
DPP vice presidential candidate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Jaw over the years repeatedly claimed that putting the DPP in power would lead to the destruction of the Republic of China, but it did not happen, despite eight years of pan-green administration.
The DPP’s policy is to show goodwill to China but not weakness or naivety, Hsiao said, adding that the latter would be an invitation for Beijing’s abuse.
Taiwanese and the rest of the world understand that China is the sole party responsible for the increase of regional tensions by seeking to change the “status quo” by force, she said.
The nation’s business partners including Apple are committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions across their supply chains, and none of these corporations recognize nuclear power as a form of clean energy, she said.
THE TPP ACCUSATION
In related news, the TPP on Thursday accused Formosa TV (FTV, 民視) of editing out part of TPP presidential candidate Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) remarks during Wednesday’s televised debate.
The alleged editing occurred on FTV’s YouTube channel which livestreamed the platform presentation. The channel was also in charge of relaying the signal to all other stations broadcasting the presentation, TPP spokesperson Vicky Chen (陳智菡) said.
In the missing 44 seconds, Ko accused the DPP of failing to fulfill its goal of building 200,000 social housing units in eight years and touted his own achievement in providing such units as Taipei mayor.
The incident represented a failure to report an important political event that could shape Taiwan’s future in a balanced and fair manner, Chen said, adding that Ko was the only candidate whose remarks appeared to have disappeared.
Chen Kuang-chung (陳光中), head of the Internet division of FTV News, denied the accusation.
There was likely a lag while YouTube was receiving data packets being uploaded by FTV, which could account for the missing section, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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