Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he would make “deterrence and communication” the foundation of his China policy to avoid staking Taiwan’s future on “goodwill” alone.
Speaking at a luncheon hosted by the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan, the former Taipei mayor pledged to increase defense spending to deter a potential Chinese invasion while engaging in dialogue with Beijing.
Ko described “communication” as key to improving strained cross-strait relations, saying that it would “effectively decrease the possibility of misunderstanding.”
Photo: CNA
Although it is extremely unlikely Taiwan and China can engage in talks on political issues in the current stage, both sides can start with easier topics, such as cultural and sports-related issues before moving to economic exchanges, Ko said.
“The keyword for cross-strait relations is ‘step-by-step,’” said Ko, who is second behind Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, in most polls.
Ko told European company representatives that he knew foreign investors in the country were most concerned about Taiwan’s energy supply.
He said his party believes the time line for phasing out nuclear power should be pushed back from the DPP government’s 2025 deadline, but the percentage of renewables in Taiwan’s energy mix should be gradually boosted at the same time.
Taiwan should boost the percentage of renewables as part of a “pragmatic” approach to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, Ko added.
Overall, Ko said that if elected president, his administration would seek to govern in a “rational, pragmatic and scientific” manner.
“Based on these principles, we will find answers to many questions,” he added.
The chamber of commerce represents 1,050 members from more than 450 European companies with operations in Taiwan.
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
RSS