The New Party yesterday officially nominated Youth Corps director Yang Shih-kuang (楊世光) as its candidate for next year’s presidential election, with Yang saying that if elected, his priority would be to have President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) “answer to the law.”
He would grant residency permits to 10,000 Chinese every year and ask Washington for a 20 percent discount on its arms sale packages, Yang told a news conference at party headquarters in Taipei.
Some people might say that the New Party just wants to make waves, but as a political party, it is obligated to nominate a presidential candidate in a society where only calls for Taiwanese independence are allowed, while calls for unification are prohibited, New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) said.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The New Party must come out with its pro-unification stance, he added.
Yang linked supporting independence to being a “woman.”
Taiwanese politicians who espouse unification or independence often do not dare transform their words into action, he said.
“I am pro-unification. I am a man. Where are the women supporting independence?” he said.
Commenting on other potential presidential candidates, he said that Tsai is a woman, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) “is not a woman,” former Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) “might be a man” and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) “is likely not a woman.”
Cross-strait tensions are at the heart of the nation’s problems, as they have not only hampered the nation’s international presence for too long, but also caused rifts in society, he said.
If elected, he would make Tsai, who is “a tumor for Taiwan,” answer to the law, he said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,