Premier Wu Den-yih, main opposition Democratic Progressive Party candidate Su Jia-chyuan and Lin Ruey-shiung of the People First Party faced off in Taiwan’s first-ever televised vice presidential debate Dec. 10 ahead of next month’s presidential election.
In his introduction, Su, who won the right to speak first in a drawing of lots, panned the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou for not delivering on its campaign promises and for blaming the previous DPP administration for all its problems.
“In last week’s presidential debate, Ma consistently criticized the DPP government for not accomplishing anything during its eight years in power,” Su said. “This shows the president has not reflected on his own performance while in office, which has not been very effective.”
Su noted that salaries have fallen to levels last seen 13 years ago, while the Taiwan stock exchange has dropped to below 7,000 points, government debt has risen to NT$1.3 trillion (US$43.99 billion), and the number of unemployed has increased to 480,000, all worse than when Ma assumed the presidency in 2008.
For his part, Wu lauded the Ma administration’s commitment to democratization as well as clean and efficient government. He noted that it has effectively promoted cross-strait peace and stability while ensuring ROC sovereignty by adhering to the policy of no unification, no independence and no use of force in its dealings with mainland China.
Wu also pointed out that under Ma’s leadership, Taiwan’s economy has been able to rebound quickly and post strong growth following the global financial crisis of 2008 as well as the devastation wrought by Typhoon Morakot the following year.
Meanwhile, Lin touted PFP presidential candidate James C.Y. Soong’s administrative experience and urged voters to reject the two main candidates by “being your own boss for once” and voting for the PFP ticket.
Lin explained that a Soong administration would focus on transforming Taiwan into a “Switzerland of the East” and on developing high value-added industries such as biotechnology, health care, pharmaceuticals and care services, which he said are key to the country’s future prosperity. (SB)