A Taiwanese businessman claims that Lien Chan (連戰), as the KMT's candidate for the 2000 presidential election, asked Chinese officials to announce war games in the lead up to the poll to increase his chances of winning -- a charge the party denies.
Lin Chih-sheng (
Lin claims that Lien, now the KMT's chairman, had sent rep-resentatives to Hong Kong to ask Chinese officials to hold military exercises off the Fujian coast a few days before the election on March 18, 2000.
"What the book states is ridiculous," KMT spokesman Wu Ching-ji (吳清基) said yesterday. "We'll sue the author if he circulates the book.
Lin in his book writes that Lien's representative, Tsai Chih-hong (蔡志弘), who was then a deputy secretary-general in his presidential campaign, had made the trip to Hong Kong to ask Chinese officials for the favor.
But Beijing's representative, Hsing Yunming (邢運明), then the deputy director of the Central Committee's General Office in China, said the request couldn't be accommodated because there wasn't enough time to plan, according to the book.
"If the request was made one month earlier, we could have done it," Hsing is quoted as saying. "It's too late to announce a military exercise, but we could try other measures to assist Mr. Lien," he allegedly said.
Hsing made a counter-proposal, suggesting that Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji (
In a speech that was widely seen on television in Taiwan on March 15, Zhu said: "Let me advise all these people in Taiwan: Do not just act on impulse at this juncture, which will decide the future course that China and Taiwan will follow. Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't get another opportunity to regret."
Ting Yuan-chao (
"The book is meaningless. It just wants to make Lien look bad," Ting said. "The media should not trust this kind of false information at all."
But Lin was adamant that his account of events was accurate and vowed to release evidence to prove his claims should Lien persist with his denials.
He also said the purpose of his book was not political, but is meant as a warning to Taiwanese businessmen considering investing in China.
"I am not a politician and don't want to be involved in politics at all," Lin told the Taipei Times yesterday. "I don't want to make anybody look bad. This is not my concern. Lien should stop denying my account, otherwise, I will release more evidence to prove my story."
Lin refused to say what evidence he possessed to prove his claim, but noted it wasn't unusual for top government officials to send secret envoys to meet with Chinese officials.
For example, he said, Su Chih-cheng (蘇志誠) and Cheng Su-ming (鄭淑敏) represented former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in secret talks with representatives for China's President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) in Hong Kong.
"Su and Cheng denied the accusations at first, but the evidence proved otherwise," Lin said.
The businessman once ran four schools that he founded in Shanghai and Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. But he fled China after falling out with the Chengdu City government, which took over his schools and detained him in June.
Lin left behind property worth 150 million yuan and illegally immigrated via a fishing vessel from the Fujian coast to Kinmen on June 29.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
NATIONAL DAY: The ‘Taiwan Dome’ would form the centerpiece of new efforts to bolster air defense and be modeled after Israel’s ‘Iron Dome,’ sources said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday pledged to strengthen the nation’s air defense capabilities and build a “T-Dome” system to create a safety net against growing military threats from China. “We will accelerate our building of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous air defense system in Taiwan with multi-layered defense, high-level detection and effective interception, and weave a safety net for Taiwan to protect the lives and property of citizens,” he said in his National Day address. In his keynote address marking the Republic of China’s (ROC) 114th anniversary, Lai said the lessons of World War II have taught nations worldwide “to ensure that
RSS