DPP Chair Tsai Ing-wen comments to the foreign press with focus on the results of the Big-5 Elections, DPP ~ Democratic Progressive Party (DPP Taiwan)

Statement by Chair Tsai Ing-wen to the Foreign Press

Taipei, NOv. 30, 2010

In this election, contrary to our expectations and pre-election poll analysis, we did not win more

mayoral seats as we had hoped. We secured the two southern cities with slight victories, but we

were not able to expand our governing presence to the northern cities. In total vote count, however,

we broke the record, and surpassed the KMT for the first time in the urban areas, winning nearly

50% of the votes against KMT’s 44%. We also made tremendous gain in the percentage of local

city councils, where the number of DPP seats is also unprecedented. And the chart is there. We are

grateful to all the Taiwanese people who have restored trust in the DPP and supported us this time.

In various events of ours, we have noticed that there were a lot more of young people and women,

who have traditionally kept a distance from the DPP rallies. Their presence gives us confidence

that the DPP has captured the interests and support of new sectors of the public. We also noticed

a high level of passion in the sense we haven’t seen in years, and we hope this positive image will

sustain as we move ahead.

We ran an election campaign with a focus on public policy and successfully led the public

discourse, which compelled the KMT to follow. For example, we introduced the discussion on

public social housing, government initiated urban renewal, and improving the delivery system

for social benefits. These are ideas consistent with the DPP’s ideology of social justice, equal

opportunity and assisting the disadvantaged sector of society. Our ideas received more positive

feedback and we will continue to develop this policy, policies, as we present our 10 year policy

outlook.

You might have question about that shooting incident. So I wouldn’t talk about it now. You might

want to raise it later because we have prepared a response for you. And you may be also interested

in the next steps that the DPP will take. I think since our defeat in 2008, the DPP has been in the

process of recovering. And we have indeed managed to restore much confidence in the party,

especially through our by-election victories, the rural 3-in-1 elections last December and both the

gains last weekend. We must consolidate these gains and continue to strive for more support from

our people as we face the next electoral challenges of the legislative and presidential elections of

2012.

Throughout my leadership of the DPP, we have put tremendous efforts into rebuilding our party’s

credibility by presenting practical policy or discourse in hopes of surpassing the traditional blue-

green divide and confrontational politics. We believe this is a correct path of which we will

continue to strive. And in the coming months, we will continue to present our policy guidelines and

ten year outlook for the future. We must further articulate to the Taiwanese people where we see

the challenges for our country in the next ten years, and how we expect to cope with these internal

and external challenges. We have already presented chapters for public discussion on ethnic

relations, agriculture, gender issues and education. And we will continue to present our views in

other important issue areas that will affect our country’s future.

We must continue to consolidate the strength of our party in both public image and trust on the one

hand, and the other grassroots organizational base on the other. At the same time, we have been

very successful in rebuilding the party’s financial structure by small individual donations so that

we can sustain the party’s health, financial health, on the long-run, without relying on business

donations.

The unprecedented number of city councilors elected this time is an important inroads in grassroots

politics that will provide a foundation for future national elections.

Now, cross strait policies. I know that international community is very interested in how we

proceed with our foreign policy and in particular, how we deal with China. How we face the

challenges of a rising China that has an overwhelming economic, political and security impact on

Taiwan, will be an important task of the party in the coming years. There are a number of things

that we will be doing. First, our doors continue to be open to dialogue as long as the Chinese do

not set political preconditions. Over the past five months we have already welcomed substantial

number of Chinese visitors to our headquarters, and we will continue to welcome those who are

genuinely interested to understanding. We have also invited Chinese democracy activists and

liberal-minded analysts to observe our election campaigns to help them gain a deeper understanding

of our views and Taiwanese sentiments. We have an ongoing project of consolidating views in the

party to formulate the China and national security chapters in the ten year policy guideline to be

presented sometime next spring.

We will establish a think tank research center in the party to strengthen our analytical and quality

capacity to deal with cross strait developments as well as foreign development. Alternatively,

we recognize the need to establish a peaceful and stable framework for interacting with China.

In fact, there is a large sector of our society that is not comfortable with the pace in the current

government’s pro-China inclinations. We must present ourselves to be a trustworthy alternative

that is capable of preserving Taiwan’s dignity, security and prosperity.

I have reiterated many times that in conducting external politics, we must bear in mind that the need

to maintain balance, transparency, and respect for the democratic due process here.