DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (
Speaking to a group of reporters from Hong Kong and Macau at his campaign headquarters yesterday morning, Chen challenged Lien to make clear whether he sent an unnamed businessman to Beijing for the purpose of promising to retract the "state-to-state" definition of Taiwan-China relations put forward by Lee last July.
"Why has Lien remained so unfocused on his stance when being questioned about the president's concept?" Chen asked.
Lien is scheduled to publicize his cross-strait policy today after a meeting of the KMT's Mainland Affairs task force.
Chen criticized the task force, of which Lien is a co-convener, for having done nothing over the past three years, which showed, he said, that Lien lacked will as a politician and had lived in Lee's shadow.
"This proves Lien is lazy and feeble," Chen said. "And now it seems that Lien wants to discard Lee's direction."
Attempting to make an issue of the Lee-Lien relationship, Chen claimed that while it was the president who led the National Unification Council and made cross-strait policy, Lien had apparently tried to develop a policy of his own.
Chen also accused Lien of asking Lee to step down from his position as party chairman, and to transfer power to Lien before the presidential election on March 18.
Lien's campaign staff dismissed the allegations yesterday, saying that Chen was trying to reduce the effect of Lien's cross-strait policy announcement and disrupt the vice president and his biggest election asset by adopting a "slander strategy."
"Chen and his campaign staff have been making up rumors and slanderous statements unscrupulously for the purpose of winning the election," said Wu Chung-li (
"People need a national leader with style, not a rumor-maker. Vice president Lien will create a pragmatic cross-strait policy -- unlike Chen, who has always denied in the afternoon the things he said in the morning," Wu said.
Wu stressed that President Lee's "state-to-state" notion was a "statement of fact" which reflected international reality, and that Lien backed Lee's idea totally.
In addition, Lien himself rebuked Chen personally during a rally yesterday, saying Chen was not an experienced candidate, but was only good at defaming rivals while announcing inconsistent policies.
"Within just one month, Chen and the DPP defamed me over 132 times by making false claims," Lien said. "[Chen] is not a qualified candidate. He is more the chief of a `rumor-making center,' or the head of a `slandering task force.'"
Lien cited examples of what he claimed were policy inconsistencies and reversals in Chen's campaign.
"On levying capital gains tax on stock transactions (
"And [Chen] pledged to give elderly residents welfare subsidies, but did not explain how to raise the money," Lien said.
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