President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday shared the stage at the one-year anniversary celebrations of the Northern Taiwan Society (北社), paving the way for cooperation between the DPP and TSU in the year-end mayoral elections.
A year ago Lee and Chen appeared together at the founding ceremony of the association -- a group composed of hundreds of pro-Taiwan social and cultural elite in northern Taiwan -- for the first time after Lee retired from the presidency. Their appearance was considered a crucial moment that rang in the changes in the political landscape over the past year.
Yesterday, Lee continued to advocate his opposition to direct links to China, whereas Chen once again pitched his idea to hold a summit meeting attended by leaders of all political parties.
Lee said Taiwanese businessmen harm the entire nation's welfare when they pressure the government to accept the "one China" policy or the "one China, two governments" principle.
He appealed to the DPP government not to give concessions to China if it refuses to accept Taiwan's sovereignty and insists on calling direct links a domestic affair.
Chen, on the other hand, called upon leaders across party lines to seek reconciliation and to agree to a summit meeting where they can exchange opinions on national affairs.
Lee Ying-yuan (
Neither Chen nor Lee were heard backing Lee Ying-yuan's election campaign during the event as the DPP has not yet officially announced his nomination.
But the appearance of the three at the same occasion was seen as an indication that Lee Ying-yuan has won support from both the present and former president.
RSS