Presidential candidates Lien Chan (
Lien sponsored a well-attended New Year's rally for veterans and their families on the outskirts of Taichung.
Close to 10,000 supporters waved flags and cheered as the vice president made a long string of campaign promises.
One major promise made by Lien was to raise the monthly subsidies for veterans from NT$12,000 to NT$15,840.
Lien also promised to rebuild veterans' communities (
Veterans and their families in Taichung usually cast around 80,000 votes in any given election, according to sources.
Worried that the veterans would be tempted to stop by at Soong's rally just up the road, Lien's rally was extended an extra 30 minutes, and buses provided by Lien's campaign headquarters detoured around the Soong rally while ferrying the veterans back to their communities.
Independent candidate Soong kicked off the day by visiting a market early yesterday morning, quickly attracting a large crowd and drawing shouts of support.
He also held a rally later in the morning to officially kick off the opening of his central Taiwan campaign headquarters.
Recent high-level recruits to Soong's campaign turned out to help drum up support for the Soong-Chang ticket.
Former Legislative Yuan President Liu Sung-fan (
Soong promised the crowd of thousands that he would build an international airport in the Taichung area and pledged to turn Taichung into a city directly administered by the Cabinet (
The rally was followed by a fundraising dinner, with tickets selling for NT$10,000.
Many people who were unable to afford the high price of the event pooled funds to buy tickets. They then drew lots to decide who would attend the dinner.
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