Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday attended a series of events for supporter groups as they ratchet up their campaigns.
Lai launched a supporters’ club of religious groups in central Taiwan, with more than 500 organizations participating in the event in Taichung.
Taiwan’s religious freedoms have been acknowledged by the world and are manifest in the nation’s 17,800 temples, 1,500 religious foundations and 3,400 religious corporations, he said.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Taiwan received a perfect score on religious freedom and an overall score of 94 out of 100 points — placing it second in Asia, behind Japan — in this year’s Freedom in the World report compiled by US-based Freedom House, he said.
Taiwan is a great society because it allows religions to develop freely, he said.
Separately, 1,500 people gathered in Taichung to join Lai’s launch of a supporters’ club of young businesspeople.
Photo: CNA
The DPP is a peace-loving party, Lai told the group, adding that it fought for Taiwan’s democracy and would fight for peace.
Peace is not achieved by signing an agreement, which can be broken as it has been in Tibet and Hong Kong, he said.
However, Taiwan is willing to talk to China as long as the principles of dignity and equality are adhered to, he added.
Meanwhile, supporters’ clubs for Ko were launched in Kaohsiung and Pingtung.
The TPP aims to unite Taiwan and end the bitter rivalries between the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Ko told supporters.
The most important goal of January’s presidential election is to establish a united and independent Taiwan that can bravely face the world, he said.
The TPP is often criticized as lacking talent, but that might be an advantage, he said, adding that people do not believe major parties when they say they are forming a coalition government.
“People will believe us when we say we are forming a coalition government,” he said, adding that the TPP aims to gather talent from across Taiwan, regardless of their political leaning, to serve the country.
“Coalition government, unity of Taiwan” is the TPP’s slogan, he said.
Ko said he hopes that Taiwan is seen as Formosa — a beautiful island — instead of a dangerous place where war seems imminent, as depicted by foreign media.
Taiwan should be a bridge of communication between Beijing and Washington, not a pawn in the confrontation between the two, he said.
Taiwan should be a united and harmonious society, not a country of division and hatred, he added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at