President Ma Ying-jeou has rejected opposition presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s comments that the people of Taiwan are in a dire situation.
At a campaign event in the southern city of Tainan on Sunday, Ma turned to tourism statistics as proof. The president said that last year the people of Taiwan made more than 13 million overseas trips. Also, more than ten million foreigner visitors came to Taiwan, an increase of six million since the year before he came into office.
President Ma said that if the people of Taiwan were in a dire situation, there would not be so many people willing to come to Taiwan, or so many Taiwanese traveling abroad. He said it was inappropriate for Tsai, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate, to speak about her country that way.
Meanwhile, President Ma also spoke about his efforts over the last eight years to increase the number of countries and areas where Taiwanese can make visa-free visits. He said the total number increased from 54 during the two previous administrations, to 161 today.