Just eight hours after leaving the scene of his election celebration the previous night, President-elect Chen Shui-bian (
"It was the last wish of chairman Huang to see the DPP win the election. Now that we have, I must share this moment with him," Chen said, upon approaching the graveyard in Pali, Taipei County.
Accompanied by Vice President-elect Annette Lu (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
Lu said she regretted that Huang could not live long enough to see the democratic achievements he had worked for, but she said Chen and herself would carry the flame of his spirit in their endeavors to strengthen Taiwan's democracy over the next four years.
Their concerns were quickly brought back to the task at hand, however, as reporters quizzed the pair on their plans for the period up until their May 20 inauguration.
During the trip to the graveyard, Chen had confirmed that President Lee Teng-hui (
Yet before Chen and Lu could engage in preparations for building their own administration, there was still some thanks to give elsewhere, they said.
Chen and Lu made their first stop at the Central Election Commission (CEC,
However, Chen gave a hint of his plans for government reform during a meeting with Huang Shih-cheng (
He suggested that "impartial social figures" should be employed to carry out the functions of the commission at the central and local government levels, rather than government officials.
Next on the schedule was Ting Yuan-chin (
Speculation has been rife that Ting might be pulled into Chen's Cabinet as Minister of the Interior, as Chen had said prior to the election that a police officer would be his ideal candidate for the post.
Yesterday, however, Chen was giving nothing away, saying only that the appointment would need the input of the future premier.
It was not all plain sailing yesterday, as Chen had to respond to the protests in front of President Lee's residence and outside the KMT headquarters.
Chen said all three of the previous candidates had an obligation to stabilize the political situation.
"The end of the election is the beginning of reconciliation," he said, calling on supporters of James Soong, who formed the nucleus of the protest, to respect the country's leader regardless of political affiliation.
Chen set off later in the evening for stops at two major temples in Taipei.
A large crowd gathered to greet him at Hsintien Temple on Minsheng East Road.
"Hello, Mr President!" they chanted in unison.
Ten minutes after making an offering to the temple's gods, Chen's entourage set off for Lungshan Temple in the Wanhua (
Temple officials beat drums and rang bells to welcome the president-elect, while neighborhood residents set off firecrackers.
Considering the task that lies ahead of Chen and Lu, staff aides said, it was with relief that they then called it a day.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS