Candidates ready guns for final media battles

With 26 days remaining before the March 18 election, Taiwan's three major presidential candidates are stepping up their campaign media war with advertisements, both on TV and in print media.

Ads for DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will be mostly centered around the alternation of political parties in governance, Chen's image of a clean and decisive leader, crusader against "black-gold" politics and his relative youth among the candidates, according to Chen's campaign officials.

Chen's camp has also released ads focused on occasions such as the 20th anniversary of the Kaohsiung Incident (美麗島事件) and Valentine's Day.

Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉), head of Chen's publicity team, said his team had released political ads early to give Chen the advantage of a first impression before the media is flooded with campaign ads from other candidates.

As for negative campaigning, KMT candidate Lien Chan (連戰) will be Chen's prime target, with a few swipes at independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜), Chen's campaign officials said.

Lien's officials said they will soon kick off strong negative ads against both Chen and Soong.

However, in order to protect Lien's public image, his campaign headquarters will not be handling the negative ads, the officials said.