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Hsieh camp complains about flights

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) camp yesterday accused China of interfering in the presidential election, saying Beijing had offered discounted flights for China-based Taiwanese businesspeople returning home to vote next month.

Shen Fa-hui (沈發惠), a Hsieh camp spokesman, said that according to the Web site of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, individuals who booked tickets via the association to return home between March 1 and March 22 will enjoy a 60 percent discount.

As plane tickets for the Lunar New Year do not have such a big discount, Shen said it was logical to assume that China is attempting to lure Taiwanese businesspeople with monetary incentives to encourage them to return home to vote for particular candidates.

"The 60 percent discount will be absorbed by the airline companies, but all the airline companies in China are state-owned," he said. "Had this happened in Taiwan it would have violated the Election and Recall Law of Civil Servants [公職人員選舉罷免法]."

Another Hsieh camp spokesman, Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), said the Ministry of Justice has clearly defined such behavior as an act of vote-buying and the public must condemn Beijing's attempt to interfere in Taiwan's presidential election.

Hsu requested that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) communicate with Beijing to remind them that such behavior runs the risk of breaching the election code and to ask China not to meddle in elections.

Emphasizing that the presidential election is Taiwan's domestic affair, another spokesman for Hsieh's camp, Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), urged the Chinese government to stop interfering.

"China is making an all-out effort to offer `election charter flights' to Taiwanese businesspeople so they can systematically mobilize them to come home to vote and sway the election," Cheng said. "I am asking Beijing to respect the free will and free choice of China-based Taiwanese businesspeople."

Cheng said China's Taiwan Affairs Office played a significant role in the establishment of the association offering the cut-price flights.

The Straits Exchange Foundation also urged the association to refrain from making any resolution concerning Taiwan's election when the association met on Jan. 6, Chen said.

In response, KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) yesterday called on the DPP to back up its accusations with evidence.

"The DPP's accusations are groundless," he said. "The accusations also indicate that the DPP does not trust Taiwanese. It is ridiculous to say that all Taiwanese who return will vote for Mr Ma[Ying-jeou (馬以南)]."

Meanwhile, Hsieh yesterday pledged to drop out of the presidential race if it could be proved he had taken money from a biotechnology and pharmaceutical association.

He also challenged his KMT rival to make a similar pledge.

Ma's sister, Ma Yi-nan , said last week that the association had donated NT$500,000 each to Ma and Hsieh.

No immediate response was available from Ma Ying-jeou, who was occupied with the funeral of his father-in-law yesterday.

Additional reporting by AFP
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