The three main Taipei mayoral candidates on Saturday all spoke out in defense of the sovereignty of the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) and its democratic and free society, in the face of Chinese coercion, at a televised debate.
Amid fierce exchanges on municipal issues, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominee Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), and independent Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊) agreed on the threat Taiwan faces from China.
“We absolutely oppose cross-strait unification,” Chen said. “Taiwan is a sovereign, independent country. Its name is the ROC. This is our DNA.”
If elected, Chen said he would deliver an unequivocal message as mayor of Taiwan’s capital city, that “we will resist any attempt to disrupt democracy and freedom in Taiwan.”
Chiang made a similar point saying that “observing the ROC Constitution, protecting the ROC’s sovereignty, and guarding democracy, freedom, and rule of law in Taiwan is my DNA. They are also values everyone in Taiwan holds dear.”
In a similar vein, Huang said that “democracy and freedom are in the DNA of the people of Taiwan after three decades of democratization.”
“A democratic and free society is not compatible with an autocratic regime,” said Huang. “In the face of intimidation and coercion (from China), I am determined to safeguard our homeland and will never back down from defending its democracy and freedom.”
The three candidates were responding to a question from a media representative about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) recent vow that China “will never renounce use of force over Taiwan” and a warning from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that China wants to seize Taiwan on a “much faster timeline” than previously thought.
Lu Hui-min (呂惠敏), a TV presenter of Sanlih E-Television, which jointly organized the debate with TVBS News, also asked the Taipei mayoral hopefuls to elaborate on their “concrete plans” to help the country defend against the military threat posed by China.
In response, Chen said he will focus on building up Taipei City civil defense preparedness, including augmenting the civilian defense force, upgrading related training and empowering society to tackle fake news and information warfare.
Huang said, if elected, her administration would draft plans on preparing war reserve materials, providing access to adequate air-raid shelters and ensuring that water and electricity infrastructure operates normally in the event of war.
The former deputy mayor of Taipei said she would seek to deepen the city’s ties with the world. “A lesson we have learned from the war in Ukraine (against Russia’s invasion) is that international support is the most effective form of national defense for Taiwan.”
Chiang said he will take stock of the city’s air-raid shelters and make sure the protocols that govern air-raid drills are strictly followed when staged.
Meanwhile, asked by Lu whether they will continue to hold the Taipei-Shanghai Forum, an annual event established by former Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) in 2010, Huang characterized the mechanism as part of her plan to increase Taipei’s global connectivity.
Chen said he would be especially careful about exchanges with China, “given China’s increasingly aggressive intent to invade Taiwan.”
When Hau was mayor, his administration signed four MOUs (memorandum of understanding) and 28 agreements with Shanghai through the forums before leaving office in 2014, but “nothing much positive came from them,” Chen said.
Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) proposed at the 2015 Taipei-Shanghai Forum a program aimed at making the EasyCard system in Taipei and the similar stored-value smart card system in Shanghai compatible, but it never came to fruition, Chen noted.
Chiang didn’t mention the Taipei-Shanghai Forum, saying instead that he will expand Taipei’s global presence to boost the country’s international visibility.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel