Held a TV debate co-hosted by 11 Taiwanese media outlets
Democratic Progressive Party’s Lai Ching-de “Definition of independence and non-subordination of Taiwan and China”
14 days ahead of Taiwan’s presidential election, three major political party candidates clashed head-on over China’s policy stances, including Taiwan’s independence and unification, in a TV debate on the 30th.
According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s three candidates, Lai Ching-de, the Kuomintang Party (main opposition party) candidate Hou Yu-yi, and the People’s Party (second opposition party) candidate Ke Won-je, announced their opinions at the TV debate that started at 2 p.m. (local time) on this day. A fierce battle took place while he appealed that he was the right candidate for the next president.
This TV debate is a presidential candidate debate jointly hosted by 11 media outlets, including Taiwan Public Broadcasting Service (PTS), Central News Agency, China Times, Free Times, and Taiwan TV.
It lasted approximately 150 minutes, with each candidate answering questions from the media and the candidates asking and answering each other’s questions, and was broadcast live on major media platforms and YouTube.
Similar to the three TV political opinion presentations held on the 20th, 26th, and 29th under the auspices of the National Election Commission, the position on China and cross-strait policy stance were discussed as issues in today’s debate.
Previously, in the debate hosted by the National Election Commission, there was no opportunity for direct debate between candidates, but in today’s debate, direct competition between candidates was possible, creating a more intense atmosphere.
Candidate Lai emphasized, “Taiwan’s sovereignty and independence belongs to the 23 million Taiwanese people and does not belong to the People’s Republic of China (China),” adding, “The definition of Taiwan’s independence is that the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China are not dependent on each other.” .
Candidate Lai then said, “Candidate Hou accepts the ‘92 formula (advocated by China) (a verbal agreement between China and Taiwan that recognizes ‘One China’ but agrees to use each’s own name)’ and He emphasized, “The candidate’s acceptance of ‘Cross-Strait One Family’ actually means that everyone will accept the ‘One China Principle.’”
Candidate Hou responded by saying, “I also oppose Taiwanese independence and one country, two systems, and the 92 formula that I recognize is different from China’s definition.”
“Taiwan’s future must be decided by the 23 million Taiwanese people,” he said, adding, “We must have dialogue and exchange under the foundation of Taiwan’s constitution, and then we can lower the risk.”
Candidate Ke also said, “The so-called ‘two straits are one family’ means showing good will toward the other side,” and argued, “Under the current situation, I am opposed to ‘de-Chineseization,’ because both sides belong to the same cultural sphere and compatriots.” .
He then emphasized, “Guaranteeing Taiwan’s democratic and free political system and way of life is (our) Maginot Line, and we will seek dialogue with the other party (China) under this Maginot Line.”
Candidate Ke also emphasized, “At this stage, Taiwan cannot be unified (with China) or become independent,” and added, “Looking at the results of opinion polls, 90% of the people (Taiwanese) want to maintain the status quo.”
The three candidates had a fierce debate over current issues such as real estate speculation and nuclear power plant policy.
The vice presidential candidate debate, co-hosted by Taiwanese media, will be held on January 1 (starting at 2 p.m.). The favorability of the Vice President, the President’s running mate, is evaluated as a major variable in this election, and the Vice Presidential candidate debate is also attracting attention.
Source: Donga
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