President Chen Shui-bian (
"It is an act of selfishness that Lien Chan said he would not pick up his referendum ballots yet at the same time asks others to vote for him [in the presidential election]," Chen said.
During Saturday's election debate, Lien, representing the KMT-People First Party (PFP) alliance in the presidential race, said that while he respected others' decision on whether to cast ballots, he would not be voting in the March 20 referendum, calling it illegal.
PHOTO: LUO PEI-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES
"What is an illegal referendum? Who has the right to call it an illegal referendum?" Chen asked. "Whether a referendum is legal should be left for the grand justices to decide."
"You [Lien] cannot claim yourself a judge and declare that something is illegal," Chen said.
Chen said the people of Taiwan should support the March 20 referendum in order to score a victory for the country.
"It would be a victory for China's Communist Party if the referendum fails," he said.
Chen also criticized the system endorsed by the KMT-PFP alliance of granting 18 percent interest rates to retired military personnel, civil servants and teachers.
"Why does Lien favor the 18 percent interest rate? Because he, as a former vice president, is the recipient of an 18 percent interest rate," Chen said at a meeting with labor union supporters in Taipei yesterday.
"[With the preferential rate] Lien gets a monthly income of approximately NT$400,000, which is more than [the monthly income] of Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮)," Chen said.
Meanwhile, Lien, branding Chen as capricious, said yesterday that more rounds of debate would be like "a bad drama that just doesn't know when to end."
At the end of Saturday's debate, Chen invited Lien to participate in another two debates. Lien then shied away from giving a definite answer.
Citing a poll that said 54 percent of respondents thought there was no need to have further debate, Lien said, "It is hard to focus on issues while debating with Chen because Chen is so inconsistent. I don't see the need to carry on a bad drama."
While the pan-blue camp's big boss declined more debate with Chen, Lien's campaign aides said yesterday that they would visit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) today and request a debate between the two camps' youth departments on enlistment.
During Saturday's debate, Lien proposed that young people perform only three months of national service and that the country abandon conscription.
Chen, pointing out that Lien's son has not done his military service, said conscription cannot be scrapped just because certain individuals do not want to do their military service.
Meanwhile, polls showed Chen and Lien were still neck and neck after Saturday's debate.
A poll conducted by the Chinese-language China Times indicated that 37 percent of viewers felt that Chen was more eloquent and quick-witted than his opponent, who received an approval rate of 28 percent.
A survey by the United Daily News suggested that 39 percent of viewers favored Lien's performance, while 38 percent thought Chen was a better debater.
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
Taiwan is hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) for the first time, welcoming more than 400 young linguists from 43 nations to National Taiwan University (NTU). Deputy Minister of Education Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said at the opening ceremony yesterday that language passes down knowledge and culture, and influences the way humankind thinks and understands the world. Taiwan is a multicultural and multilingual nation, with Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, 16 indigenous languages and Taiwan Sign Language all used, Chu said. In addition, Taiwan promotes multilingual education, emphasizes the cultural significance of languages and supports the international mother language movement, he said. Taiwan has long participated
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
RSS