While he was campaigning in the DPP primaries, Hsieh came under fire for advocating lifting restrictions on direct trade across the Taiwan Strait. Pro-independence DPP leaders all but called him a traitor.

“I have promoted the idea of opening three direct links (between Taiwan and China),” Hsieh said. The three links are direct flight, shipping and postal services, which are currently relayed via a third place, usually Hong Kong.

Now, Hsieh said, he wanted to get direct charter flights started as soon as possible. He also wanted to let Chinese tourists visit Taiwan, though not a large number initially.

At any rate, Hsieh is trying to draw a line in his subservience to the president in his own bid for the nation’s highest office.

Voters will go to the polls to elect a new president on March 22.

The DPP nominee has to do something to win swing voters, who are now getting impatient with the president for failure to put his DPP house in order and tending to support Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang.

While he was talking to the EMBA students, Hsieh did not fail to criticize his increasingly popular Kuomintang rival.

“Mine is a pragmatic idealism,” Hsieh said. “That is different from the materialism of Ma Ying-jeou.”

Ma emphasizes “only things material,” Hsieh said. The Kuomintang presidential candidate hopes to talk only about the economy.

By “idealism” Hsieh meant his support for Taiwan’s joining the United Nations as Taiwan. That, of course, is an ideal Taiwan wants to realize, albeit it can’t.

China regards that move as an attempt at de jure independence of Taiwan. Beijing vows to invade Taiwan, if independence is declared.

“Should only the economy be talked about,” Hsieh chided Ma, “Taiwan would become just another Hong Kong or Macao.” “That’s is a sorrowful road to trod,” he added.

1|2

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 1000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email