Chip Tsao picks apart KMT candidate Han Kuo-yu's catchy slogan 'people will come, goods will go out, and Kaohsiung will become rich'

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/12/31
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A renowned Hong Kong columnist on Monday (Dec. 30) lamented over what he says has been going on in Hong Kong and warned that Kaohsiung, and Taiwan as a whole, could meet the same fate if it opens its arms wide to Chinese investment as the KMT presidential candidate advocates.

Chip Tsao (陶傑), also known by his pen name To Kit, is a multilingual Hong Kong-based political commentator, broadcaster, and writer. He has expressed his disagreement with Taiwanese Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu's (韓國瑜) China and economic policies and recently described the presidential hopeful as a "tasteless Donald Trump copycat trying to appeal to grassroots voters."

With no profound economic theory, Han's catchy slogan "people will come, goods will go out, and Kaohsiung will become rich" (貨出得去、人進得來，高雄發大財) gave those on the lowest rungs of society hope and attracted many loyal "Han fans," Tsao said.

However, in Hong Kong's case, it has turned out to be only a small number of people who got quick rich — from the housing market and skyrocketing property prices — and wages for graduates have remained stagnant, he observed.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/31
By: William Yen

Taipei, Dec. 31 (CNA) A large crowd of party people flocked to Taipei City Hall Square Tuesday evening to dance the night away while waiting for the fireworks display at Taipei 101, as celebrations got underway across Taiwan to welcome 2020.

This year's Taipei 101 display will have approximately 16,000 fireworks and run for 300 seconds, in combination with animations on the building's giant T-Pad wall, which is made up of 140,000 LED bulbs and covers the exterior from the 35th to the 90th floors.

The animations will feature rare and protected species in Taiwan such as the leopard cat, the Formosan black bear, the mikado pheasant and the green sea turtle, along with themes such as "hope," "nature," "moving forward" and "bright future."

As in previous years, many visitors came to see the Taipei 101 fireworks, now in its 16th year, and attend one of the world's most popular New Year countdown parties.    [FULL  STORY]

JUST SPECULATION: Asked about a rumor that some Marshallese politicians have proposed building ties with Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it is untrue

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 01, 2020
By: Lin Chia-nan  /  Staff reporter

Taiwan’s diplomatic relations with its four remaining Pacific allies are stable and the government would

continue deepening ties with the Marshall Islands after its newly elected senators pick a new president by Monday next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Taiwan has consolidated ties with its 15 remaining allies — including Palau, the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Nauru in the Pacific — after two Pacific allies — the Solomon Islands and Kiribati — switched political allegiance from Taipei to Beijing in a week’s time in September last year.

Mutual visits between high-ranking Taiwanese and Palauan officials have been frequent, demonstrating that bilateral ties are solid, Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Baushuan Ger (葛葆萱) told a news briefing in Taipei, after Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) on Monday returned from a three-day visit to Palau to attend celebrations for the 20th anniversary of bilateral ties.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in March last year made a state visit to Palau, which was followed by separate visits by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod, Ger said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan Intwernatinal
Date: 30 December, 2019
By: Shirley Lin

Someone fails to open one of Liu's puzzle boxes[/caption] Taiwan is home to a master craftsman whose specialty is making puzzle boxes. He says that people who are interested in entering the same trade, have to possess a love of exploration.

Master Liu Wen-huang of Nantou County turns a box into a book rest in just a few simple steps. This sphere-shaped box is a light that he rotates to change the brightness. These are just two of the bamboo puzzle boxes he’s made over the last 40 years.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2019/12/30
By: Brian Hioe

New Bloom is an online magazine featuring radical perspectives on Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific, founded by a group of students and activists after the 2014 Sunflower Movement in Taiwan. We seek to provide a space that fosters political and intellectual transnational dialogues in the Left.

What you need to know

The only presidential debate for 2020 election was held on Sunday, December 29. KMT candidate Han Kuo-yu lashed out at the media for alleged defamation.

Compared to the three policy presentations that have taken place to date, the presidential debate held yesterday allowed for more substantive exchanges between the three presidential candidates who will be running in Taiwan's 2020 elections: Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang, and James Soong of the People's First Party. It was the only presidential debate scheduled for this election cycle. 

The increased exchanges were likely due to the format of the debate, which required more engagement between the candidates as well as outside experts. But for the most part, the candidates repeated many of the same talking points from their previous policy presentations. 
[FULL  STORY]

Han Kuo-yu curses at DPP after bashing Taiwanese news agencies on national TV

Taiwan News
Date: .2019/12/30
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer\

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After lashing out at Taiwanese media at Sunday's (Dec. 29) presidential debate, Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) used the F-bomb while accusing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members of corruption at a campaign rally in Taichung.

During the televised presidential debate, Apple Daily Deputy Editor-in-Chief Tsai Jih-yun (蔡日雲) questioned Han about a payment he made to a woman surnamed Wang (王), with whom he had allegedly had an affair with, and Han responded by bashing her for being "disrespectful" and "low-class."

The Kaohsiung mayor said the query fully reflected the news agency's lack of quality and proceeded to condemn Sanlih E-Television and CNA for lacking professionalism and a conscience, reported Now News.

Han's behavior at the debate was heavily criticized by political experts and a number of Taiwanese netizens, who called Han the "most ill-mannered" presidential candidate in Taiwan history.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/12/30
By: Wang Shu-fen and Ko Lin

Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) A tourism information office will be established in the United Arab Emirates early next year to promote Taiwan tourism to visitors in the region, the Tourism Bureau said Monday.

The Dubai office will be inaugurated between March and May, Tourism Bureau Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) told reporters at a media event in Taipei.

Muslim tourists are definitely some of the most important customers in the travel market, Chou said, adding that besides Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia, the Middle-East region is also a market worth exploring.

According to the director-general, the city was first considered because of the availability of direct flights between Taiwan and Dubai.    [FULL  STORY]

‘MAKING A STAND’: Han respects the freedom of the press, but he also believes that reports should be verified before being released, his spokeswoman said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 31, 2019
By: Ann Maxon, Lin Liang-sheng and Dennis Xie  /  Staff Reporters, with staff writer

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) lashed out at the media during the televised presidential

debate on Sunday because the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate is a “long-time victim” of “irresponsible news” and he was “making a stand against injustice,” his campaign office spokeswoman Anne Wang (王淺秋) said yesterday.

During the question-and-answer segment of the debate, the Apple Daily asked Han about the allegation that he gave NT$6 million (US$199,104 at the current exchange rate) to a female friend to buy real estate, to which Han responded by calling the Chinese-language media company “extremely low-class” for probing into his private life.

“Why don’t you ask at what age I lost my virginity?” he said.

When the Central News Agency asked how he planned to establish good cross-strait relations, Han said that the question was “too narrow” with respect to Taiwan’s status “by tying itself up with political ideology.”    [FULL  STORY]

The race for Taiwan’s presidency has entered the final straight and the outcome will affect not only relations between Taipei and Beijing but also between China and the United States
In the first of a series on the key issues and candidates, Lawrence Chung looks at the crucial role young and first-time voters are expected to play

South China Morning Post
Date: 30 Dec, 2019
By: Lawrence Chung

Chemistry student Chen Pin-yu will be voting for the first time when Taiwan heads to the polls  next month, and she has already made her choice.

“I’ll be giving my vote to Tsai Ing-wen because she is more capable of defending Taiwan than Han Kuo-yu or James Soong [Chu-yu],” the 21-year-old who studies at Tamkang University in Taipei said.

Chen was concerned about the self-ruled island’s fate if President Tsai was not re-elected.

“Given their pro-China stand, I believe Han and Soong would turn a blind eye to Beijing eroding our sovereignty if either of them were elected president,” she said.

Young voters like Chen will be crucial for the three presidential candidates on January 11, analysts say, in an election seen as a choice between protecting the island’s sovereignty and keeping cross-strait relations stable. They say that with 1.2 million people eligible to vote for the first time, winning the hearts and minds of those aged between 20 and 23 will be key in a race that is being closely watched by both Beijing and Washington.    [FULL  STORY]