The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) four presidential aspirants yesterday geared up for their final campaign efforts ahead of today's primary vote.
Former premier Frank Hsieh's (
On Wednesday the magazine published a copy of what it said was an official document signed by Kaohsiung Prosecutor Lo Chien-hsun (
Next said Lo believed Hsieh should be indicted on corruption charges on suspicion of accepting illegal donations from a Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp board member and others during his term as mayor of Kaohsiung.
Justice Minister Morley Shih (施茂林) told a legislative committee on Thursday that the ministry would identify the leak's source by Friday, but the ministry later backtracked and said that it had failed to find out who had leaked the document.
DPP Legislators Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) and Kao Chien-chih (高建智), all affiliated with Hsieh's campaign, yesterday decried the Cabinet for the Ministry of Justice's failure to discover the identity of the source of the leak before the primary.
"We [Hsieh's campaign] have been harmed. None of our party colleagues have stepped up to defend us but some have instead seized the opportunity to attack us," Hsu said.
"I believe Prosecutor Lo is the person causing this damage and so is our administration," he said, referring to the Cabinet.
Su, hit back at a separate event yesterday. He said he had believed in Hsieh's innocence from the very beginning and yet Hsieh's camp was still attacking and smearing him.
He was referring to text messages sent to the public by individuals claiming to be from Hsieh's camp. The text messages accused the administrative agencies of fabricating documents and then leaking them to the press.
Su yesterday dismissed the claim as a lie.
"How would it be possible for the premier to see a prosecutorial document?" Su said, adding "is it fair that the accused is Hsieh and Su is the one who is victimized?"
Saying that the contest had grown increasingly intense, Su told the press in Taipei County yesterday that he nonetheless believed DPP members would make a wise decision in today's vote.
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, meanwhile, urged members to vote for him, saying that he was the only candidate who clearly values Taiwanese sovereignty.
"There is no big difference between voting for either [the contender] who said there is a `one-China' framework in the Constitution or [the contender] who would like to loosen restrictions on Taiwanese investment in China because both of them do not have clear ideas about Taiwan's sovereignty," he told reporters yesterday.
"Next year's presidential election is not only an election about choosing Taiwan's next president, but also one about Taiwan's future," he said. "Therefore, [US President] George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) are both watching to see whether the DPP's 250,000 members can insist on the DPP's founding spirit and values."
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), at a separate event yesterday, said that the president is responsible for national defense and diplomacy but these were areas the other three aspirants had failed to address during Thursday's policy debate.
Today's vote is a chance for members to choose a candidate who "does not have to spend time learning how to deal with national defense and diplomacy," she said, urging members not to make "an historic mistake."
DPP statistics show that a total of 254,963 members are eligible to vote in today's primary. Taipei County tops the list with more than 35,000 members, followed by the municipalities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, with more than 30,000 each.
Additional reporting by staff writer and cna
Also see story:
Pundits weigh impact of Lee's exit
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS