12/05/2011
Department of International Affairs - Democratic Progressive Party
DPP Chair and Presidential Candidate Tsai ing-wen attended the opening ceremony of “Together we stand – National Support Group for Tsai & Su” in Taichung City on Dec. 4. In her remarks, she addressed the need to utilize Taiwan’s economic advantage to explore and develop international markets and international space for Taiwan in order to gain recognition and to further incorporate Taiwan into the world.
More than two thousand members attended the event, including legislative candidates for Taichung City Li Shun-liang, Hsieh Ming-yuan, Lin Chia-lung, Chang Liao Wan-chien, and many other party members.
In her remarks, Chair Tsai mentioned that when returning to power in 2012, the DPP will allow the world to see Taiwan on the international stage. She cited the example of Taiwan’s non-governmental organizations and its volunteers, which she said are among the world’s best, if not the best, and she said she believed that this is where Taiwan’s advantage lies. Therefore, she said that Taiwan must utilize this advantage it has to gain recognition globally for other nations to see what Taiwan’s values are, how it differs from China’s, and why the world must work together to protect these values that make Taiwanese proud.
“This is an obligation for a leader of a country”, Chair Tsai firmly stated.
Chair Tsai said that from mid 1980s to 2000, her fifteen years of experience in international negotiation led her to discover that there are plenty more international markets for Taiwan to explore and to develop. She expressed Taiwan’s need to employ our economic strength to further extend our international markets and space, and to put Taiwan in a position to lead discussions on shared international issues.“Taiwan has its own position, with our own thoughts,” she said. “We have Taiwanese values, and together we should defend it.”
Moreover, Chair Tsai criticized the current administration’s lack of discussion on their achievements, instead bombarding people with perplexing numbers that are not only impossible to understand but also difficult to relate to. Additionally, Chair Tsai added that the current president should focus more on the long-term policies and infrastructure instead of constantly attacking the opposition.
“This does not make his track records better, nor does it make his polling numbers better”, she said.
She further noted that if the current government only focuses on criticizing the opposition party, then “this kind of administration would be more suitable as the opposition party instead of the ruling party”. She emphasized that she will bring in a genuine ruling party that will be able to understand the people’s needs and how to solve these problems.
The presidential candidate also attended “Students for Tsai Ing-wen” right after the opening ceremony and met with 120 students. During her speech, she explained that there is more to the democratic process than just voting, and that it is also about participating and following the process of election.
During the gathering with the students, Chair Tsai addressed the government’s responsibility to assist the next generation to take charge of the future.
In response to questions regarding youth employment, Chair Tsai recommended the students to prepare themselves and to further understand the job market’s demand in order to evaluate their own marketable values. She also suggested to the students that regardless of which major the students choose to study, they should also study business management and other management courses.
When asked about the high cost of education, the tuition and student loans, Chair Tsai stated that she will gradually increase the attendance rate of public universities, hoping to have 50% of all undergraduate students attend public universities. As for student loans, since income is usually unstable the first few years after graduation, she proposed to have national credit institutions as guarantors to prolong repayment and to reduce the accumulation of interests by imposing a limit on the interest calculation period.
