KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (
During a press conference held yesterday and apparently designed to show his confidence in the results of the election, Lien also referred to the campaign as a two-horse race -- and that he would beat the DPP's Chen Shui-bian (
"According to information we have gathered, I have confidence that I will garner about five million votes," Lien said, adding that all feasible policies he proposed would be accepted by voters.
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSING, LIBERTY TIMES
There are estimated to be more than 15 million people eligible to vote nationwide.
Lien said if elected, he would hold a third National Affairs Reform Conference -- and the first since the National Development Conference (
"The elite from diverse parties and organizations will be welcome to contribute their opinions on reforming domestic policies at the conference," Lien said, adding that the main issues would include eliminating "black gold" politics, providing opportunities for fairer party competition, as well as reforming the political, judicial and educational systems.
Lien said a task force would be established between March 18, when he would be elected, and his inauguration on May 20, to plan preparatory meetings for the conference.
Lien said that preparatory meetings would be held within three months after May 20.
"Many of the elite in Taiwan have been on my side to accomplish the goal of promoting Taiwan," Lien said, unveiling a list of 100 influential people from the fields of industry, culture, small- and medium-sized enterprises and academia.
Such figures include Koo Chen-fu (
It was believed that Lien's camp meant to use the name list as a response to similar lists recently released by Chen, who claimed that he had gained support from many of the country's most important citizens.
However, some people on the pro-Lien list have already expressed their support for Chen, including Lin Hsin-yi (
Lien's reason for the existence of the overlapping names was that he "welcomed" people with diverse backgrounds.
"After all, we hope we can draw positive conclusions as we did at the National Development Conference in 1996," Lien said.
A positive result of the conference, led by President Lee Teng-hui (
None of the 100 people on Lien's list of supporters appeared at the press conference in Taipei.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS