The first national conference of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) since the party assumed government in May opened on Sunday. President Tsai Ing-wen, who doubles as party chair, stressed that the reforms the party hopes to achieve in government will not happen overnight.
Addressing the conference two months after the DPP assumed the presidency, Tsai spoke of the reforms the government hopes to bring in. These include transitional justice and industrial upgrading. The president said these reforms will not happen all at once but they must nonetheless move forward.
Tsai said the reform process was intended to bring the nation together, not to divide society, as happened under the former DPP administration under Chen Shui-bian. She said the process would not be without pain but she urged party members to shoulder the burden to make the pain of change minimal. She also urged the public to have faith in the new government.
In her address, the president also mentioned the challenges the new government has faced in the short time since it took over. These include flooding at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, a strike by staff at the nation’s flag carrier China Airlines, the accidental firing of an anti-ship missile and the effects of a major typhoon in the past two weeks.