Vice President Lu Hsiu-lien, Premier Su Tseng-chang, former Premier Frank Hsieh and DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun participated in the DPP-organized event, which took place in Taibao City, Chiayi County. In addition to making opening and concluding remarks, for which each participant had two slots of six minutes, the four responded to questions posed by three scholars and a social activist.
According to an April 21 news release by the DDP, Hsieh stressed that the duty of a nation was to provide a good environment for its people and encourage young people to pursue and fulfill their dreams.
Su stressed that while economic development was the lifeline of a country, culture and ecology should not be ignored. Taiwan's leader should strengthen the sense of identity among the 23 million people, he said.
Yu stated that he would promote "general well-being," in which economic development should make all people happy and not just allow only a handful of people to become rich.
Lu said that, on one hand, Taiwan was facing suppression from China, which tried to marginalize the island nation on all fronts, while, on the other hand, Taiwan had internal problems such as financial crises and environmental pollution.
In response to a question about the three links and visions for Taiwan's economic development over the next 10 to 20 years, Yu replied that, since Taiwan's economic miracle was based on world trade, the country had to "deeply cultivate Taiwan while reaching out to the world."
Hsieh also stressed that Taiwan should not lock up its economy, nor should it lock the economy and the country's hopes into China alone. China might try to make Taiwan accept certain conditions before implementing the three links which, he said, would represent the political kidnapping of negotiations.
Emphasizing Taiwan's geographic advantages and urging that a broader view be taken, Lu said that Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Kaohsiung Harbor could connect Taiwan to the whole world, making Taiwan a global transportation hub and not just a bridge to China.
Su said China always wanted to annex Taiwan. Only after normalization of relations between Taiwan and China could there be normal cross-strait trade relations. Consequently, Taiwan should be cautious and safeguard its sovereignty and national security. This meant maintaining the "proactive management" policy on high-tech exports to China, he said.
In related news, Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the opposition Kuomintang, registered April 21 for the party's 2008 presidential election primary. Ma resigned as chairman in February following indictment on corruption charges involving misuse of a special allowance fund during his two terms as Taipei mayor.
Taiwan's Central News Agency reported April 21 that Ma handed over around US$21,000 to serve as primary operation fees and a list of 215,168 signatures of KMT members who supported his bid to represent the party in the presidential election. This was more than 10 times the 16,750 signatures needed to register for the primary.
When registering, Ma said that, if elected president, he would devote himself to creating a "New Taiwan." This would be totally different from the nation shaped over the past seven years, and would be achieved using powers given to the president by the legal and constitutional systems, he said.
KMT primary regulations state that candidates must register with the party between April 19 and April 22 using forms picked up April 4 to 6. Apart from Ma, the only other person to have collected these forms was Lei Chiau-yun, a professor in the Department of Chinese at National Kaohsiung Normal University. Lei failed to submit the completed forms, list of member signatures and required fees by the April 22 deadline, however, making Ma the only KMT member to register for the primary.
Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, who was previously tipped as a possible candidate, announced April 2 he would not join the primary nor run on an independent ticket. The Chinese-language China Times reported April 22 that, according to sources within the KMT, if only one person completed registration for the primary, the KMT's Central Standing Committee would nominate him as the party's candidate for next year's presidential election at its May 2 session.
Write to Edwin Hsiao at edwinhsiao@mail.gio.gov.tw