President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) stressed his tough stance against "black-gold" politics yesterday, saying his administration would not tolerate any gangsters in the political arena.
"The best way to achieve this goal is by barring gangsters from running for office. If they do run, [people] should not vote for them so they won't get elected.
"Even if they are elected, [the government] won't allow them to continue their evil doings," Chen said in Changhua County, receiving enthusiastic applause from tens of thousands of supporters at a DPP campaign rally.
Speaking in the agricultural county last night, Chen also urged farmers to upgrade their technology in light of Taiwan's WTO accession, which he said would hurt the country's farming population.
He said, however, that farmers could use the opportunity to improve Taiwan's agricultural competitiveness.
Chen said that in the long run, the country's international competitiveness will be greatly improved following WTO accession. The Council of Agriculture had previously estimated that roughly 43,000 people would be forced to quit their farming careers following WTO admission.
The DPP will be represented in the agricultural area by Wong Chin-chu (
Continuing his intense campaign tour, Chen yesterday also appeared in central Taichung County and northern Taipei.
In the morning, Chen attended a campaign rally organized by the party's Aboriginal candidate, Chen Yi-hsin (
"As long as the DPP garners two seats, the needs of Aboriginal groups can be fully voiced and heard," Chen told the crowd.
Other DPP heavyweights -- including Vice President Annette Lu (
While stumping for mayoral candidate Michael Tsai (
Meanwhile, Hsieh, on the island of Kinmen yesterday, lashed out at opposition parties, saying they did nothing but criticize the president. Defending Chen, Hsieh called rival parties "mentally unhealthy" and said that they have scared foreign investors out of the country, further jeopardizing Taiwan's economic position.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
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Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
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