Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, and his running mate, former representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), yesterday held their first campaign rally together in Hualien City, calling January’s election a fight for the survival of the country.
Taiwan has followed the right path under President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) over the past seven years, and the nation needs a leader who will keep it moving forward, Lai said.
After naming Hsiao as his running mate on Monday last week, the pair the next day registered for the Jan. 13 election.
Photo: Wang Chin-yi, Taipei Times
In a TV interview aired on Saturday, her first since returning to Taiwan for the campaign, Hsiao responded to concerns from opposition parties that keeping the DPP in power would lead to war with China, saying that all Taiwanese advocate peace and war would never be considered an option.
“Any candidate aspiring to win the election must approach this matter with the utmost responsibility,” she said.
“Our campaign team is also exercising great caution in strategizing how to increase Taiwan’s international support, ensuring that the current peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait can be maintained,” she added.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
In Hualien, Lai said he and Hsiao have an unwavering commitment to safeguarding Taiwan’s democracy, and pledged to align the nation with democratic societies worldwide.
The election boils down to a choice between democracy and dictatorship, he said, adding that voting for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could diminish Taiwan’s democracy and sovereignty.
At a campaign event in Taipei, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the KMT’s presidential candidate, said DPP was resorting to ideological manipulation in its campaign.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“Who could love Taiwan more than I?” Hou said.
“Lai pays lip service to loving Taiwan, while I show my love for Taiwan through my actions and with my life,” he added, alluding to his previous career as a police officer.
“The KMT is the party that could really safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty, dignity and peace,” said Hou’s running mate, Broadcasting Corp of China chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康).
Hou reiterated the party’s long-held warning to voters that the election is a choice between war or peace.
If the DPP wins the presidential election, it would likely lead to war with China, he said.
“That is why I joined the presidential race. My main goal is to protect Taiwan with my life, and to ensure cross-strait peace,” he said.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), running with TPP Legislator Wu Hsin-ying (吳欣盈), did not hold a large campaign event, but instead attended a gathering with a group of young people in Taipei.
“I am still the strongest candidate among the opposition parties,” Ko said.
Regarding an alleged vote-allocation plan by the KMT to “save [Hou] and dump [Ko],” the former Taipei mayor said that “Taiwan is a nation full of surprises, and we will continue to strive for victory.”
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS