If elected, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) would form a coalition government, and might even ask former presidents to recommend candidates for the position of premier, who lawmakers could then choose from, he said in an interview published on Tuesday,
The government is run like a “dictatorship presidential system” or an “elected emperor system,” Ko said in an exclusive interview with Mirror Media magazine.
He said if he is elected, he would establish constitutional conventions so the president would be required to report and answer questions at the Legislative Yuan, appoint a premier with consent from the legislature, and freeze the budgets of the Control Yuan and Examination Yuan to balance and separate executive, legislative and judicial powers.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Ko said he would form a coalition government, enabling political parties to “become shareholders.”
For example, former presidents would each be asked to nominate two candidates for the position of premier, who lawmakers would vote on, he said.
Asked why he would make the best president, Ko said that only he can deal with China and the US, and the pan-blue and the pan-green camps at the same time.
He said if the presidential candidates were classified as “preferable, acceptable, tolerable and intolerable,” then only he would be considered “acceptable” by China and the US, while the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, Vice President William Lai (賴清德), would be considered “intolerable” by China, and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), would be “preferable” to China, but the US might give him a “question mark.”
Ko also asked if Hou is being a responsible mayor, as he took leave from his post only a month after being re-elected for a second term.
He said that the TPP is different from the KMT in that “aside from a few, KMT officials have been bought off by China.”
Although Hou said that he is against China’s “one country, two systems” policy, he embraces the so-called “1992 consensus,” and that when Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) talks of the “1992 consensus” Taiwan formula, it means there might be “one country, three systems,” Ko said.
He said as long as Taiwan maintains its current democracy, freedom, political system and lifestyle, he is willing to communicate with China.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
Ko said Lai would not be a suitable president, as the risk of war would be heightened and the economy would worsen, as about 40 percent of Taiwan’s exports go to China and it would be difficult to suddenly change this.
The DPP would fail in communicating with China because it promotes “desinicization,” he said.
‘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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as