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2012 ELECTIONS:
Candidates spar in final debate
THIRD WHEEL: Ma and Tsai locked horns over the
Yu Chang case and Chen Shui-bian, leaving Soong to lay out his policies and
question why his rivals did not do the same
By Mo Yan-chih and Chris Wang / Staff Reporters
People First Party Chairman James
Soong, left, President Ma Ying-jeou, center, and Democratic Progressive Party
Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen face the cameras during the final televised debate
between the three presidential candidates held in Taipei yesterday.
Photo provided courtesy of Taipei Photographers Association
Administrative efficiency and the wrangle
over a biotechnology venture controversy took center stage yesterday as the
three presidential candidates battled it out in the final televised debate.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), who is
seeking re-election, in his opening statement rejected allegations that he was
behind attempts to implicate Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai
Ing-wen (蔡英文) in a bid to manipulate next month’s presidential election.
“Accusations that I instructed the prosecutors are unacceptable and they
severely vilify and insult my character. I did not and would never do this. I
would withdraw from the presidential election at once if I had,” Ma said.
Prosecutors this week started investigating claims of Tsai’s alleged illegal
involvement with a biotechnology start-up while she was the vice premier under
the previous DPP government — claims she has flatly denied.
“I am saddened that Ma’s campaign team uses government resources and his
officials use false documents to smear me and to mislead the public,” Tsai said
in her opening statement, which followed Ma’s.
She also accused the prosecution of violating administrative neutrality and
judicial independence by “cooperating” with Ma’s KMT in the investigation.
“I urge Ma not to jeopardize Taiwan’s democracy for the sake of one election
victory,” she said.
Tsai said that the nation needs to change its leadership and elect a visionary
if it is to revamp its economy and safeguard its sovereignty in the coming four
years.
She said that “after nearly four years under President Ma’s leadership, we have
seen our economy lose growth momentum and our sovereignty erode. It’s high time
we change the ruling party and change the president.”
She also took issue with Ma’s repeated references to former president Chen
Shui-bian (陳水扁), saying Ma only looked to the past and failed to offer a broad
vision for Taiwan’s future development.
“For our country’s bright future, we must have a new president,” she said.
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) highlighted the importance
of national safety in his opening statement, saying that it is not just a matter
of military security, but also applies to people’s property and finances, land
security and social welfare.
“A state leader’s most important task is to keep the country safe,” Soong said,
adding that the biggest threat to the safety of Taiwanese is not China’s
missiles, but the nuclear power plants in the greater Taipei area — where 7
million people live — and frequent natural disasters such as typhoons and
flooding.
Saying that potential threats include a rising national debt that could limit
the government’s ability to pay public servants’ pensions and social welfare
subsidies, Soong called on voters to cast their ballots for him, describing
himself as an experienced candidate who has no political baggage, but has a
comprehensive set of administrative policies.
In the third section of the debate, where the candidates posed direct questions
to one another, Ma, in response to a question from Soong about government
efficiency, said the efficiency of his administration has been globally
competitive and he has worked to fight corruption and improve government
capabilities since he took office.
“While [government efficiency] has fallen from sixth place last year to 10th
place this year in the global competitiveness ranking of the International
Monetary Fund, we were in the top 10 both years,” Ma said.
Tsai responded by saying that the KMT has been copying the DPP’s policies,
including policies on nuclear power, social housing and the location of the
establishment of Kuokuang Petrochemical Technology (國光石化) plants in recent
years, showing that it lacked its own ideology and an ability to govern.
Ma appeared to ignore Soong’s first question, which asked Tsai why she had left
many questions — including queries about her connection to Chen and his aides,
as well as her “Taiwan consensus” and China policy — unanswered in the first
presidential debate two weeks ago.
Tsai said she had answered those questions in the previous debate, adding that
the matter of granting Chen amnesty would be a decision to make after the final
verdict and that the “Taiwan consensus” is a democratic process which could
better withstand the test of time than the so-called “1992 consensus.”
Regarding her connections with Chen and Ma’s comment of “Chen Shui-bian behind
your back,” Tsai repeated what she had said in the Dec. 3 debate: “Ma stubbornly
chooses to live in the past.”
Tsai focused on rising housing prices and stagnant income growth and demanded Ma
apologize to the public as she reminded Ma that he regarded rising housing
prices as one of his major achievements when he served as Taipei mayor.
The rise of housing prices in northern Taiwan has been contained by a series of
countermeasures, including the luxury tax and stricter tax inspection, Ma
responded.
The most important thing for the government to do “was not to control or
restrain the prices, but to make them reasonable,” Ma said, adding that new
legislation which ensures property taxation, registration of market prices and
increased social housing would help solve the issue in the long run.
Housing prices in some areas outside Taipei City have actually fallen, Soong
said, adding that both Tsai and Ma “have lived in Taipei for too long to realize
what is happening in other places.”
Soong echoed Ma when he said that it is imperative to restrain speculation
rather than reduce housing prices.
Soong also raised concerns about the nation’s worsening wealth gap during the
cross-examination, and challenged both Ma and Tsai to offer solutions to the
problem.
In response, Tsai promised to establish a solid social-welfare system with
sufficient manpower and financial support to take good care of those who are in
need.
She again raised the issue of skyrocketing housing prices in Taipei among other
cities, and slammed Ma for failing to tackle the issue during his eight-year
term as Taipei mayor.
“Without proper housing policy, many people are forced to leave Taipei or live
in poor conditions. To solve the problem, it requires consistent attention from
the government,” she said.
Ma refuted Tsai’s comments, arguing that he did not have enough authority to
tackle the national issue as a former mayor.
“Therefore I immediately introduced the luxury tax and looked into property
hoarding after taking over the presidency, solving the issues that I was not
able to in the past,” he said.
Ma defended his government’s efforts in raising the budget on social welfare to
more than NT$420 billion (US$13.8 million) while offering more than 350,000 job
opportunities, promising to do more to promote social welfare measures through
legislation and subsidies.
Ma again challenged Tsai on her alleged involvement in the investment deal of Yu
Chang Biologics Co (宇昌生技股份有限公司), now known as TaiMed Biologics Co (中裕新藥股份有限公司),
asking why Tsai invested in the firm even after leaving her government post and
pressing her for a clear explanation.
“Don’t you know that there are things you cannot do even after stepping down as
a government official, and no matter how important the goal of promoting the
biotech industry, you should never invest in the industry and profit from it?”
he asked.
Soong said that Ma had skipped him when he should have posed him a question and
lashed out at both the KMT and the DPP for engaging in smear campaigning and
failing to discuss their policy platforms.
“The KMT and the DPP should step aside and let me take care of the people,” he
said.
Tsai went on to challenge Ma’s integrity by questioning his allegedly taking a
NT$15 million bribe from Fubon Bank in 2003 as Taipei mayor and his failure to
address the KMT’s illicit assets.
Tsai slammed Ma for failing to carry out his promises of dealing with KMT assets
and eliminating negative campaign tactics, challenging the president to bring
more positive changes to his party, taking the amendment of the Political Party
Act (政黨法) as the first step.
Ma defended his efforts to place public bids on party assets and put profits
from asset sales in a trust fund since he took over as KMT chairman in 2006, and
refuted Tsai’s accusations that the KMT uses negative campaigning tactics.
Ma questioned Tsai’s use of aides once close to Chen, pressing her to apologize
for the damage Chen caused to the nation.
“Chairperson Tsai, you questioned me about bringing up Chen all the time, and
that’s because I cannot avoid mentioning him as you are surrounded by his
people. You did not try to separate yourself from his people, and yet refuse to
take blame for his actions,” he said.
“You only see Chen Shui-bian when there are millions of Taiwanese people
standing behind me. You still live in 2008 and you choose to dwell on history.
If that is the case, let Taiwanese people make you history with their votes,”
Tsai said.
Soong echoed challenges from Tsai on Ma’s narrow circle of advisers in his
decisionmaking process, saying Ma lacked communication with opposition parties.
“As the nation’s president, is it appropriate to listen to only a small circle
of advisers? Do you have the sincerity to talk to opposition leaders? “ Soong
said.
Yesterday’s debate was the last in a three-part series — the first and final
debates featuring the presidential candidates and the second debate featuring
their running mates — in the run-up to the Jan. 14 presidential election.
A three-part series of televised presentations by the candidates is slated for
Dec. 23.
Additional reporting by Agencies
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