DPP’s Lai unveils baseball-themed gifts for campaign donors

DPP’s Lai unveils baseball-themed gifts for campaign donors

2023-06-27

Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election is heating up, with the DPP’s candidate Lai Ching-te launching his fundraising website. At a Tuesday press conference, Lai’s campaign office unveiled baseball-themed gifts for donors. According to the Wall Street Journal, Lai may stop over in the U.S. this August, during a visit to Paraguay. Lai’s campaign spokespeople declined to confirm the report, but said that any plans for a trip will be announced in due course.

Young supporters stand in a row, chanting campaign slogans. Lai’s fundraising website is now live, with five campaign gifts on offer. There’s a “Team Taiwan” baseball jacket that Lai wore once at a campaign event and a T-shirt themed on “hope.” The eye-catching gifts all incorporate a baseball home plate.

Chen Shih-kai
Lai Ching-te campaign spokesperson
Chairman Lai has loved baseball since he was a kid, and when he plays baseball he serves as the catcher. When a catcher is crouching down, there’s always only one thing he sees in front of him: it’s called home base.

Kuo Ya-hui
Lai Ching-te campaign spokesperson
In English it’s called home base, and symbolically home base means protecting your homeland.

In related news, the Wall Street Journal reports that Taiwan’s 2024 election was a primary talking point during U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent visit to China. Sources say Lai is likely to visit the U.S. this summer, potentially in August, when he heads to Paraguay to attend the inauguration of president-elect Santiago Pena.

Chen Shih-kai
Lai Ching-te campaign spokesperson
If he will make a trip abroad, I believe you all will be informed about it like it was done in the past. So far, we haven’t been notified of any plans for an official visit.

Lai’s campaign office has yet to confirm his trip to the U.S. But sources say U.S. officials trust Lai as a candidate, and that Taiwan-U.S. relations will only deepen if he is elected.

賴清德募款網站上線華爾街日報:賴清德8月可能過境美國

2023-06-27

2024總統選戰開打，民進黨總統參選人賴清德競選總部今天(27日)上午舉行記者會，宣布募款網站上午正式上線，針對《華爾街日報》報導，知情人士透露，美國和台灣官員正在討論賴清德今年夏天可能訪美，較可能的方式是，巴拉圭的準總統貝尼亞8月就職時，賴清德前往出席就職典禮，途中便可在美國停留，賴辦沒有證實。

和年輕支持者一起喊口號，民進黨總統參選人賴清德的募款網站正式上線。首波募款小物，包括賴清德曾在造勢場合穿著的挺台灣棒球外套、挺希望T恤等5樣小物，融入棒球本壘板元素超吸睛。

[[賴清德競選辦公室發言人陳世凱]]
“因為我們賴清德主席，他從小就喜愛棒球，而且他打棒球是站的是捕手，捕手他前面，蹲著的時候，前面永遠只有看到一個東西，叫本壘板”

[[賴清德競選辦公室發言人郭雅慧]]
“它的英文叫home base，其實home base就是守護家園的概念”

外界也關注，華爾街日報報導，美國國務卿布林肯上周訪問中國時，台灣2024年總統大選，成為美中官員會談的主要議題。傳出副總統賴清德，很可能在今年夏天訪美，比較可能的方式，就是賴清德8月參加巴拉圭總統當選人貝尼亞的就職典禮，屆時將在美國過境停留。

[[賴清德競選辦公室發言人陳世凱]]
“我想如果有要出訪的話，會依循過去通知的方式告知大家，目前為止我們沒有收到說，有出訪計畫的規劃”

到底去不去美國，競辦不敢鬆口，但賴清德是美方信任人選，台美關係未來勢必會持續深化。

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Lai Ching-te embraces T-shirts and works on public image for presidential campaign

Vice President Lai Ching-te is working hard on his public image as his presidential campaign gathers pace. Lai is known for formal dressing, having a penchant for suits and ties which rarely wavers. But lately he’s started to dabble with more informal outfits, in an effort to reach out to younger voters. FTV spoke to DPP lawmaker Cheng Yun-peng for his take on the image issue.

Vice President Lai Ching-te is properly attired in an apron to make zongzi with a group of cooks. It’s an unusually casual look for Lai, whose public outfits have historically stuck close to the suit-and-tie, even if he took on a steward’s role.

Cheng Yun-peng
DPP lawmaker
On the road, Tainan lawmaker Lin Chun-hsien said to me, “Yun-peng, you’re a member of the legislature, you have to wear a suit and tie.” I said, “Why?” He said, “Premier Lai Ching-te saw me in an interview once, and called me straight away to tell me, “If you’re interviewed, you must wear a suit and tie. Otherwise you don’t look like a legislator.” He said he feared for me to get a call from Lai, saying, “You’re a member of the party caucus, where’s your tie?!”

But Lai’s buttoned-up image has distanced him from young people. Concerned supporters have been urging Lai for some time to drop the formalities and put on a T-shirt for once.

Lai Ching-te
Vice president
I used to be a doctor. And when I was in the hospital, or at academic conferences, or having meetings as a lawmaker or mayor or premier, I had to attend lots of formal occasions. And I had to wear a suit for all of them – otherwise I would secretly feel different from everyone else.

Lai has decided to take up his friends’ advice. In recent videos he was seen sporting a polo shirt, and on outings with dignitaries, a suit – but no tie. And a T-shirt was the choice for a “Friends who Rely on Lai” event. But other DPP lawmakers say that dressing as the real you is all that matters in the end.

Cheng Yun-peng
DPP lawmaker
Some people might think it’s boring. But actually I think this is the image that behooves any head of state. And that’s what really marks Lai Ching-te out from the two other presidential candidates – he’s the most reliable candidate.

DPP lawmaker Cheng Yun-peng doesn’t want Lai to change. He thinks a statesmanlike image is not to be confused with stuffiness.

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Ko Wen-je says he was never opposed to Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement

Presidential hopeful Ko Wen-je has ignited a firestorm, by saying he will restart talks with China over the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement. The controversial treaty was never ratified, after sparking a wave of protests known as the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement. Ko says he was never opposed to the treaty itself, only to the secretive negotiations that brokered it. His remarks have drawn anger from local politicians, who accuse him of changing his tune to win votes.

Miao Poya
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I’ll have to apologize to him for misunderstanding him all this time. It turns out that Ko Wen-je is not opposed to the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement after all. If he is elected president, he will push for it again. Years ago he rode on the wave of opposition to the treaty, going from a doctor to a mayor – we should regard this as a beautiful historical misunderstanding.

Presidential hopeful Ko Wen-je said he intends to revive the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement. He said that his past opposition to the treaty was not because of the treaty itself, but because of its black-box negotiations. Wu Cheng, who protested against the treaty in the Sunflower Student Movement, confronted Ko over his stance.

Wu Cheng
New Taipei City legislative candidate (DPP)
Back in 2014, and even earlier in 2013, Ko Wen-je didn’t put it quite like that. He compared it to tightening a screw, saying that once the screws were attached, they would only get tighter and tighter. Ko Wen-je emphasized that once the agreement was signed, Taiwan’s top-tier medical talent would go to China, and low-end medical talent would see their salaries go down in Taiwan. So why has Ko Wen-je changed his position?

Ko previously testified at public hearings in his capacity as a doctor. He spoke about the treaty’s adverse impact, in remarks that have come back to haunt him. On social media, New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih criticized supporters of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, urging the people of Taiwan to reject such candidates.

Chiu Hsien-chih
New Power Party lawmaker
It wasn’t just the black-box negotiations that drove 500,000 people out onto the streets. The train of thought was quite clear. The problem was the China factor. Don’t distort the protest movement just because you need to bring in deep-blue votes.

Hung Sun-han
DPP lawmaker
Ko Wen-je, quit playing dumb. The true goal of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement was unification. Now that China’s economy is on the decline and its unemployment rate is soaring high, the only reason I can think of is that Chairman Ko wants to win Beijing’s support in order to poach voters from the blue camp.

Concerns are mounting that the treaty will return and become a tool for the CCP’s unification campaign. Politicians from across party lines are speaking out against Ko, urging him not to court China for the sake of the election.

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TAITRA launches Taiwan Trade Center in Dallas, Texas

TAITRA, or the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, has opened an office in Texas to support local Taiwanese investors. The grand opening was attended by five U.S. representatives in a strong show of support for Taiwan. TAITRA Chairman James Huang said the Texas office was the council’s fifth American outpost, and will bring in even more Taiwanese businesses.

He catches the pass and scores a touchdown. It’s the grand opening of the Taiwan Trade Center in Dallas, Texas. With the reordering of the global supply chain, the American south has become a manufacturing hub, and Taiwanese factories are moving in. TAITRA launched an office to support Taiwanese businesses.

James Huang
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Taiwan’s position in the U.S. industrial landscape is very different from what it was before. We used to export products to the U.S. Now we’ve become an important foreign investor, especially in leading-edge tech sectors such as semiconductors. The potential for economic development in this region is immense. That was a very important consideration behind our decision to set up an office in Dallas.

Chen Yen-lin
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The warming ties between Taiwan and the U.S. were clear on Opening Day of the Taiwan Trade Center, where five U.S. representatives put up a rare show of support for Taiwan, signaling more collaboration ahead in the trade and tech industries.

Jasmine Crockett
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So I think that it’s gonna be huge. I think it will increase the trade that we see happening come out of the state of Texas. I think we have a lot of logistical advantages that exist in Texas. We have so many large airports. We have an inland port. And we also do tons of trucking in this area. So we’ve got the manufacturing. We’ve got what it needs to sustain real trade.

Pete Sessions
US representative (Republican)
As we look at the chip industry today and its development, America and Taiwan will have this special relationship as a result of Samsung, who is coming to the congressional district that I’m lucky to represent.

Dallas, a key financial and commercial center in Texas, is home to many of the world’s top chip makers. Especially after the pandemic, Dallas has seen a population boom and become a magnet for Taiwanese businesses.

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Making treasure out of trash: the businesses making products from ocean waste

Do you know how much waste is in the ocean? According to AFP, an estimated 5 trillion pieces of garbage are in the world’s oceans right now. That waste directly injures millions of sea creatures every year, says Taiwan’s Ocean Conservation Administration. The call to clean up Taiwan’s waters is growing. And some companies are taking on the challenge of making new products out of waste recovered from the sea. Let’s meet the businesses making treasure out of trash.

A sea turtle struggles to swim as it drags a long fishing net along in the water. Luckily, these people were able to help.

But the coral reef down here is being strangled by ocean waste. If we don’t pay attention soon, it may be too late to save it. The Ocean Conservation Administration says it has collected as much as 13,000 tons of ocean waste in less than five years. As ecological awareness grows in Taiwan, more and more people are volunteering for ocean clean-up projects, and companies are stepping up to reuse and recycle ocean waste.

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Plastic bottles generally represent about 20% of ocean waste. They’re the largest single component of ocean waste. We use about five recovered waste bottles for one flip-flop, as well as three oyster shells. We generally use about 15 bottles to make one, larger-sized, casual sneaker.

This company uses garbage pulled out of the ocean to make everything from your typical blue-and-white slippers to a super-stylish statement sneaker. The plastic is first broken down and then reprocessed into new material. It saves plastic, and provides great material for shoes.

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Plastic bottles become a very soft and malleable material for shoes. Oyster shells are also a great source of natural calcium oxide. It’s an inorganic material, so it’s antibacterial, emits far infrared radiation and resists static electricity.

And you can wear ocean waste on more than just your feet. These clothes and bags, laptops, keyboards, mice and cleaning fluid bottles are all made from stuff the ocean didn’t need.

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Most recycling and reuse of ocean waste involves plastics. But you need to use about three times as much material when you recycle plastic bottles recovered from the ocean, because the plastic is degraded by ultraviolet radiation from sunlight when it spends a long time in the seawater.

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New exhibition explores historical memories and deja-vu

We now take you to see a new exhibition in Taipei that explores historical memories and the idea of deja-vu. Twenty-five Taiwanese and international artists have presented works for display in a variety of mediums. FTV reporter Stephany Yang brings us in for a closer look.

A walk into the exhibition brings us into the presence of relics from our pasts: artifacts, photos, videos, and prints.

Jack Burton, an artist born in southern Wales creates works out of subject matter relating to shop signs, technology, social media, connectivity, and nostalgia.

Jack Burton
Artist
The kind of feeling behind most of the works in the show was being interested in the aesthetics of the things that are around us everyday. Whether that is shop signs or restaurant signs. The kind of things that tell us this is a social space where we can go in and maybe meet people or wait for people. Tied in with that was for example, with this work, thinking about how things, like mobile phones and the internet, and how we are constantly connected. How that might change the way we relate to each other.

This exhibition brings together works that reflect certain historical events, which might be catastrophic disasters or certain instances that become symbols of a particular era. While many of the works on display may elicit feelings of nostalgia in viewers, the exhibition is not solely concerned with showing particular acts or relics from the past, but rather, to provoke a discourse on "What’s next?"

Wei Yu
Curator
This exhibition is about historical memories and also about the way those historical memories are embodied as a text or object, and how it is being circulated in our contemporary living world. Some of the historical memories can be a social or political event, but can also be a very personal experience.

Twenty-five artists, including Andres Baron, Slater Bradley, Jack Burton, Rutherford Chang, and Yu Araki are showcasing their pieces created out of a variety of media that range from video, and installation, to virtual reality. Their creations also explore the concept of deja-vu.

Wei Yu
Curator
I think it is kind of a common experience now that somehow you will sense a historical style or historical memories that are haunted in your contemporary life. It is kind of an experience of deja-vu. I want to find a way to explore these kinds of feelings about contemporary life and its relation to history. I think contemporary art became a way to allow us to make this happen.

The exhibition can be viewed up to August 13 at the Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab.

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