Finance, Agriculture and Immigration on the Campaign Trail
Taiwan's presidential candidates talk about their financial, agricultural and immigration policies 25 days from election day.
Transcript
00:00 Though Taiwan's presidential election is less than a month away, the candidates are still
00:04 refining their platforms.
00:06 The Taiwan People's Party's Ke Wen-je has just announced a seven-point plan to secure
00:10 the country's finances.
00:12 Among his proposals, a sovereign wealth fund to get the country's assets actively earning,
00:16 and a more independent central bank.
00:18 "The central bank is burdened with a responsibility, so it's hard to recover.
00:23 Because it has to pay the central government's 10% annual income.
00:27 It can become a more independent unit to help Taiwan's industrial development."
00:33 The Democratic Progressive Party's Lai Ching-de has taken a brief break from the campaign
00:37 trail to attend to his duties as Taiwan's sitting vice president.
00:41 But here too, he's made a plug for his presidential ambitions.
00:45 Lai's party rejects China's claim to Taiwan.
00:48 And despite Chinese threats to invade, his DPP has stressed Taiwan's sovereignty through
00:52 its eight years in control of the presidency and the legislature.
00:56 But this has hurt Taiwan's agricultural industry, as China bans a growing range of Taiwanese
01:00 produce.
01:02 At a meeting with young farmers, Lai said his party has weaned Taiwan off dependence
01:06 on the Chinese market, with the U.S. now farmers' top export destination.
01:11 He also says he sees agricultural exchanges as part of his foreign policy.
01:15 And he made this pledge.
01:16 "I also hope that young people in Taiwan can go overseas and see the world.
01:22 So I have proposed a $100 billion foreign fund."
01:30 And the Kuomintang's Ho You-yi has been busy meeting voters at a religious event.
01:34 His first order of business at this stop was to reject claims by the New Power Party that
01:39 he received illegal campaign donations back in 2018 and 2022, when he was running for
01:44 mayor of New Taipei.
01:45 "All political cash and money will be managed by the law."
01:50 But he's talking policy too.
01:52 His latest focus is immigration.
01:55 Ho proposes setting up an immigrant affairs bureau and passing a law to protect immigrants
01:59 to Taiwan.
02:00 He also wants a rule change so that Chinese immigrants through marriage only need four
02:04 years in Taiwan to get a citizen ID card, the same as anyone else who immigrates to
02:08 Taiwan for their spouse.
02:11 From big new projects to big changes to the rules, Taiwan can expect to head in new directions,
02:16 no matter who the voters decide to elect.
02:19 Chris Ma and John Ventreeste for Taiwan Plus.
02:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]