A key staff member in KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan's (
However, speech communication experts said the case was symptomatic of the last stage of a campaign filled with cursing and obscene language.
Lin Hsiang-nung (
"My language might be regarded as offensive to some, but this is not the case," Lin said at a press conference yesterday.
"In a cordial atmosphere, I blurted out an improper word inadvertently," said Lin, suggesting the "slang" he used was commonplace among the discussions he had with friends during post-quake reconstruction work.
Instead of calming many of those who had taken offense at the remark, Lin's apology was used by opposing candidates' camps to fuel even more controversy.
DPP women legislators Yeh Yi-jin (
As voting day approaches, sharp skirmishes between the candidates' camps have been intensified by the increasingly common use of obscene remarks.
Independent candidate James Soong (
Lien once teased DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian (
In addition, certain anti-James Soong (
Speech communication experts said that using such obscenities to attack opponents during campaign rallies might benefit those hurling the insults, but it is far from beneficial to the public reading about such activities later in newspapers.
"Political figures who use such language at rallies would probably prefer to take back those insults should they ever try some strategic thinking," said Yu Tzu-shiang (游梓翔), an associate professor at Shih Hsin University's department of speech communication.
"The insulting actions relayed by television can create a lasting negative impression on the viewing public," Yu said, adding that the audience might not "empathize" with those at the scene of such events, because second-hand reports often simplify the real situation.
Yu said that some candidates had proved themselves poor role models by acting improperly and bandying about obscenities at rallies.
"Bad language, like calling someone `wolf-hearted and dog-lunged' (
Even making jokes about other candidates' personalities can be damaging, he said.
"Children will be confused by such practices. Parents and schoolteachers would never tolerate such behavior," Yu said, referring to the fact that would-be leaders of Taiwan should at least try to be thinking about being role models for society.
It is a worrying trend, Yu said, as the use of cursing and sexual innuendo in the current campaign is a sure sign that social values in Taiwan are deteriorating.
PRECISION STRIKES: The most significant reason to deploy HIMARS to outlying islands is to establish a ‘dead zone’ that the PLA would not dare enter, a source said A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be deployed to Penghu County and Dongyin Island (東引) in Lienchiang County (Matsu) to force the Chinese military to retreat at least 100km from the coastline, a military source said yesterday. Taiwan has been procuring HIMARS and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the US in batches. Once all batches have been delivered, Taiwan would possess 111 HIMARS units and 504 ATACMS, which have a range of 300km. Considering that “offense is the best defense,” the military plans to forward-deploy the systems to outlying islands such as Penghu and Dongyin so that
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
WHAT WAS ALL THAT FOR? Jaw Shaw-kong said that Cheng Li-wen had pushed for more drastic cuts and attacked him, just for the outcome to be nearly identical to his bill The legislature yesterday passed a supplementary budget bill to fund the purchase of separate packages of US military equipment, with the combined amount of spending capped at NT$780 billion (US$24.8 billion). The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their legislative majority to pass the bill, which runs until 2033 and has two main funding provisions. One was for NT$300 billion of arms sales already approved by the US for Taiwan on Dec. 17 last year, the other was for NT$480 billion for another arms package expected to be announced by Washington. The bill, which fell short of the NT$1.25
‘CLEAR MESSAGE’: The bill would set up an interagency ‘tiger team’ to review sanctions tools and other economic options to help deter any Chinese aggression toward Taiwan US Representative Young Kim has introduced a bill to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan, calling for an interagency “tiger team” to preplan coordinated sanctions and economic measures in response to possible Chinese military or political action against Taiwan. “[Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] has directed the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. China has a plan. America should have one too,” Kim said in a news release on Thursday last week. She introduced the “Deter PRC [People’s Republic of China] aggression against Taiwan act” to “ensure the US has a coordinated sanctions strategy ready should
RSS