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Taiwan Mayor Says Island ‘Just a Product on a Shelf’ for Trump

2018-10-19 02:49:46.120 GMT



By Samson Ellis and Miaojung Lin

(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan must focus on making itself more valuable to President D
onald Trump and accept its status as a pawn in the great power game between th
e U.S. and China, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said.

The outspoken former surgeon and potential presidential contender told Bloombe
rg News that Taiwan shouldn’t overestimate the U.S.’s willingness to defend
the island from an attack by its much bigger neighbor. Ko, 59, said Taiwan nee
ded to boost its worth to America by strengthening shared values, such as demo
cracy and economic transparency.



“Taiwan is just a product on a shelf,” Ko said Wednesday at Taipei City Hall
 “We have to have a very clear understanding of ourselves.”Such blunt asses
sments have helped make Ko one of Taiwan’s most popular politicians since win
ning election as the capital city’s mayor as an independent in 2014. Should h
e secure a second term in local elections Nov. 24, he’s considered a strong c
ontender for president, something he repeatedly declined to rule out.



“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” said Ko, who calls Marxist re
volutionary Che Guevara “a hero” and other Taiwanese politicians “liars and
 fraudsters.”



Ko attributed his political success to offering an alternative to the two fact
ions who have long dominated local politics: the Kuomintang, which sees itself
 as the rightful ruler of a unified China, and the Democratic Progressive Part
y, which sees Taiwan as an independent nation awaiting international recogniti
on. He’s also shaken up city policies, suspending work on a 40,000-seat arena
 intended for last year’s University Games.



“They support me because I am their only hope,” he said. “I am not perfect,
 but they put their hope in me because they are desperate.”Ko faces challenge
s from both sides during the Nov. 24 election: former lawmakers Ting Shou-chun
g, of the KMT, and Pasuya Yao, of the DPP. A survey by broadcaster TVBS last m
onth found him leading Ting by 5 percentage points and Yao by 26 percentage po
ints.



Ko -- a former ally of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen --has attempted to bri
dge the divide. He outraged independence supporters when he told a Shanghai cr
owd during his first year in office that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belon
ged to one family -- symbolism often evoked by unification advocates.



“The Taiwan issue is just a part of the tensions between the U.S. and China,
” Ko told Bloomberg. Taiwan, which has been caught between the U.S. and China
 since the Kuomintang-led government fled to Taipei almost 70 years ago, has r
eemerged as a geopolitical flash point amid Trump’s trade war. The U.S. has t
aken steps to improve political and military ties with Tsai’s administration
in recent months, leading to protests from China. Before becoming mayor, Ko sp
ent 17 years as the head of surgery at one of Taiwan’s top hospitals. His cri
ticism of mainstream parities and sometimes profane outbursts in interviews ha
ve helped him amass a strong social media following, with 1.9 million Facebook
 followers, compared with Tsai’s 2.2 million.



Next month’s vote will show whether Ko can translate his popularity among Tai
wanese under 40 years old into votes. He’s touting openness and freedom as a
source of strength for Taiwan, citing an annual gay pride march last year in T
aipei that drew more than 100,000 people. “These events represent an atmosphe
re of freedom,” he said. “You have to go to other countries to realize Taipe
i is a place where there is diversity of thought.”



台北市長柯文哲的總統思維：台灣在美中之間不過是架上商品 (1)

2018-10-19 03:08:14.944 GMT





記者 Miaojung Lin、Samson Ellis









他說，美國總統川普就是商人，台灣必須想辦法提升自己價值。當被問及他認為川普會不
會出賣台灣時，他毫不遲疑地回答，「Of course！」







他受訪時說，「兩岸一家親」說法遭受攻擊，不過就是政治鬥爭，是其他政黨想除掉政治
上的競爭者而已。







年輕人的阿伯



















「要不是這個國家這麼不正常，人民不會對柯文哲有這麼高、不切實際的期望，」他一邊
說著，一邊皺著眉頭。



自由台北城











「你要去其他國家才會感受到台北市是思想很自由的地方，」柯文哲說。


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