KMT’s top candidate promises to boost island’s defense, restart talks with Beijing

Taiwan’s Nationalist Party top candidate Hou Yu-ih during an international press conference in New Taipei, yesterday

One of Taiwan’s leading opposition party candidates in tomorrow’s major election has promised to boost the island’s defense capabilities while restarting dialogue with Beijing, which claims the island as its own.

Hou Yu-ih, the leading  candidate from the opposition Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, said yesterday he wants to strengthen Taiwan’s ability to protect itself to deter a potential attack from China.

As part of its military pressure, China sends warships and military jets near the island of 23 million almost daily. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has also reported Chinese balloons, which could be used for spying, flying in its vicinity over the past month.

Hou, 66, said he strongly condemned China’s military provocations.

“We have to let them know they have to bear the cost of the war,” Hou said during a news conference in New Taipei City, a municipality bordering the capital, Taipei. He was joined by his running mate, former legislator and TV commentator Jaw Shau-kong.

Hou is mayor of New Taipei, a position from which he took leave to run for leader.

Besides bolstering defense, Hou pledged to restart dialogue with Beijing — first through cultural and civil society exchanges — as part of his so-called 3D strategy, which stands for deterrence, dialogue and de-escalation.

Most pre-election polls place Hou second after the governing Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate, William Lai, poised to succeed current leader Tsai Ing-wen who is barred by law from running a third term.

A third candidate, Ko Wen-je from the smaller Taiwan People’s Party, is also running in the election.

Beijing is believed to favor Hou as an alternative to Lai, whom it has criticized as a separatist trying to provoke a Chinese attack on Taiwan.

All three candidates have said they were open to speaking to Beijing, which has refused to hold talks with Lai and Tsai. Tsai’s predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT, was the last Taiwan leader to meet with President Xi Jinping, in 2015 in Singapore.

The vast majority of Taiwanese people favor maintaining the status quo in relations with Beijing as opposed to unification. The KMT has historically endorsed unification with China but has shifted its stance in recent years.

Hou, who described himself yesterday as an atypical KMT member, promised he would not address the issue of unification during his tenure “because Taiwan’s future should be decided by the [23.5 million] people of Taiwan.”

“I want to use dialogue to minimize the risks,” he said.

Differences over Taiwan are a major flashpoint in U.S.-China relations. U.S. relations with the island are governed by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which makes it American policy to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself and to prevent any unilateral change of status by Beijing. SIMINA MISTREANU, TAIPEI, MDT/AP

The US plans unofficial delegation to Taiwan to meet new leader

The Biden administration will send an unofficial delegation comprised of former senior officials to Taiwan shortly after the self-governed island holds an election for a new leader this weekend, a move that could upset Beijing in an already-fragile bilateral relationship.

A senior administration official confirmed the plan yesterday [Macau time] without offering more details but said such a face-to-face meeting was the “most effective way” to engage the new Taiwanese government and convey U.S. policy in the region.

The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, said the administration believed the move would contribute to peace and stability in the region.