Taiwan must become 'Switzerland of the Orient': PFP candidate

Central News Agency  2011-12-10Taipei, Dec. 10 (CNA) Lin Ruey-shiung, the vice presidential candidate of the People First Party (PFP), said in a televised debate Saturday that Taiwan needed to steer its future by developing itself into a "Switzerland of the Orient." "Taiwan must learn how to create the most valuable products with the least resources," from Switzerland, which "produces the world's most expensive clocks and watches with the least steel and metal," Lin said in his opening statement in the vice presidential debate. He said the biotechnology, health, medical care, care services and pharmaceutical sectors were those Taiwan needed to develop to ensure Taiwan's future. In his statement, Lin spoke of relinquishing his U.S. citizenship to run in the election, saying he cared more about society and the problems facing people's livelihoods than the average person because of his background in the public health sector. The epidemiology expert also talked of his role in public affairs, recalling that during the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, he set aside his personal safety to fly to Hong Kong to study the disease. In June that year, he was invited to deliver a speech at a 13-country anti-SARS gathering in Beijing, China, but Lin said he was prohibited from going by then chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council, Tsai Ing-wen, who is the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP's) candidate for president this year. Because of the incident, he realized that the DPP puts its own ideology above everything, Lin said. Lin also criticized President Ma Ying-jeou, accusing him of incompetence in running the country. Criticizing Ma for running up new debt and dissatisfying the people, the PFP candidate questioned why the heavyweights of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) still wanted to support Ma, whose popularity has declined. "Are they living in the democratic era or the authoritarian era?" he asked. Lin is running on a ticket with presidential candidate James Soong, a former KMT secretary-general who split with the party after being snubbed for the KMT's presidential nomination in 2000. Soong launched an independent bid that year that nearly succeeded but ultimately resulted in a split of the KMT-led pan-blue vote with KMT nominee Lien Chan, opening the door for the DPP's Chen Shui-bian to win the race with under 40 percent of the vote. Lin's appeal clearly hoped to draw KMT supporters to again support Soong, who has floundered in the polls with a support rating that has barely reached double digits. He also tried to appeal to independent voters by positioning the Soong-Lin ticket as a third political force capable of overcoming the adversarial relationship between the pan-blue alliance and the "pan-green" camp headed by the DPP. Lin argued that because of the political wrangling, the governments over the past 12 years have been "either corrupt or incompetent." Calling for the people to vote for a clean and capable government, Lin touted PFP Chairman Soong as a leader who is both clean and capable. He praised Soong for contributing to improving people's living environment while serving as governor of now defunct Taiwan provincial government in 1994-1998. During that time, Soong's administrative performance won the respect of 90 percent of the island's population, he said. Lin urged people to shake off their blue or green leanings and vote for Soong, and he promised to apply his medical expertise to help in the administration. The 73-year-old vice presidential candidate was a professor at National Taiwan University's College of Public Health from 1985-2006, and served as the school's dean from 1987-1993.