TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Jaw Shaw-kong, vice presidential candidate for the Kuomintang (KMT) party, reaffirmed his and his party's anti-communist stance in a post published in the early hours of Wednesday morning (Dec. 27).
Reviewing his past support for the Tiananmen Square protests and the Hong Kong democracy movement, Jaw aimed to rebuff criticism from Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
In a policy presentation event a day earlier, the three major presidential candidates from the KMT, DPP, and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) aggressively debated their respective platforms, with Lai criticizing the KMT as leaning toward communism, betraying the position of Chiang Ching-kuo.
Jaw disputed Lai's description, arguing he and his party have never supported communism. He recalled his personal investment in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests by citing his active support and promotion of a song, "Wounds of History." The song was created to express solidarity with the student protestors.
Jaw considers Taiwan's defensive strength relies not on military might but on the robustness and determination of its democratic system.
If elected, Jaw emphasized that he and KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih won't push for reunification negotiations with China, considering current conditions haven't met the prerequisites for such discussions.
He expressed a focus on creating a broader future where both sides of the Taiwan Strait can develop independently under their respective systems.