DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) told Japanese news organizations yesterday that the cross-strait situation could only be improved by a change of party.
"The cross-strait relationship has worsened under KMT rule during the past decade. Therefore the situation will be only improved once a new party is elected," Chen said.
In addition, Chen criticized his rivals' cross-strait policy, saying the relationship between Taiwan and China, can be neither a "confederation," as mentioned by officials close to the KMT's presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰), nor can it be described as a "quasi-international relationship" as offered by independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜).
"Taiwan is now an independent sovereign country, a fact that both the ruling party and opposition parties agree on. So there will be only one question: how to maintain Taiwan's security," Chen told the Japanese reporters.
DPP leaders predict that after the Lunar New Year on Feb. 5 the KMT will step up its attacks on Chen by playing the "stability card" and raising the specter of war in the case of a DPP victory.
Chen has planned a series of interviews with foreign media in anticipation of a wave of attacks by the KMT claiming the opposition is unable to maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Asia-Pacific region.
Chen has frequently expressed his stance on the sensitive statehood issue to international media in the past few weeks, reaffirming that neither he nor his party would write the "special state-to-state" notion declared by President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) last July into the constitution, nor change the country's official name.
DPP International Affairs department deputy director Liu Shih-chung (劉世忠) said that Lien and Soong have been accepting interviews with international media to attack Chen on the regional security issue.
Therefore, Liu said, "Chen has to use a louder voice to fight back."
Liu said Chen may try to visit other countries before the election to make his policies better known to the international community.
With this in mind, his vice presidential running mate Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) will fly to the US today on a four-day visit to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Lu has previously devoted considerable energy to advancing a movement aimed at Taiwan's membership in the UN, and party leaders said that Lu has established good contacts with political heavyweights in the US.
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