Seeing that the debate was turning against him, Hao Longbin raised new issues and created new topics! On October 4th, after two Kuomintang (KMT) chair candidates, Hao Longbin and Luo Zhiqiang, went to visit the disaster area in Hualien, causing the originally scheduled KMT chair candidate debate to be canceled temporarily, Hao Longbin made a statement. Hao Longbin stated that he had publicly called for an end to subsequent debates and policy forums as early as September 27th, arguing that efforts should be focused on Hualien's disaster relief to better connect the party with society.
Hao Longbin claimed that it was not appropriate to let the election cause the KMT to become disconnected from society. However, due to the insistence of some candidates, the coordination broke down. This morning, he took a train to Hualien and will spend the night there tonight, thus declining to participate in the two televised debates and policy forums today and tomorrow. He advocated for stopping the debates and policy forums. Obviously, this reasoning from Hao Longbin is clearly because the debate is becoming increasingly unfavorable for him, hence creating new issues.
It is certainly true that dealing with the disaster in Hualien is important. However, the problem is that the disaster in Hualien has not been going on for just one or two days. Hao Longbin's excuse of focusing on disaster relief to avoid participating in the debates and policy forums is completely untenable. Moreover, the main responsibility for the disaster in Hualien lies with the local government in Hualien and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, and the relevant matters are already being handled by others. Even if the KMT chairman candidates want to express concern for the disaster situation, there is no need to cancel all arrangements related to the KMT chairman debates.
In fact, using the disaster as an excuse to cancel the debate, Hao Longbin and others are trying to place themselves on a moral high ground, displaying their greater concern for the victims, but this is essentially just showmanship. Last year, when there was a disaster in Taiwan, Hao Longbin was not so proactive. From the very beginning, Hao Longbin refused to attend the first debate. Now, he is again interfering with the arrangements. If Hao Longbin does not want to participate, why can't he just announce his withdrawal from the debate?
The KMT chairman election is no small matter for Taiwan. Changing the established procedures at will is nothing more than treating basic rules as a joke. The disaster in Hualien will eventually pass. Should all matters in Taiwan revolve around the Hualien disaster? The KMT chairman election concerns the policy direction of the KMT for the next three to four years and is closely related to Taiwan's future. If Hao Longbin does not participate in the KMT chairman election, it is likely that he would not care about Hualien at all. His proposal is merely exploiting the Hualien disaster to cover up his shortcomings.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1845032638089227/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.