President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday called on the nation to cheer for Taiwan's national baseball team, while suggesting opposition politicians could learn about sportsmanship from the tournament.
"The only way to win the game is for all team members, as well as fans, to unite and express their support for the team," Chen said while campaigning in Hsinchu County for DPP legislature and county chief candidates.
"You shouldn't demonstrate impolite behavior, such as chanting at the visiting teams during the games," Chen said. "And the fans shouldn't demand that the team be replaced because they don't score in the early innings."
The president, wearing a national baseball team uniform, urged the public to give the DPP and himself a smooth two-and-a-half years, which he said will only be possible through a DPP victory in the year-end elections.
Meanwhile, the opposition alliance continued to focus on the cross-strait issue, saying the DPP government "flip flops" on its China policy.
The alliance also said that the liberization of the cross-strait trade ban is too late to help Taiwanese businessmen who have already invested in China.
"Even if there wasn't a consensus in 1992, we still should say that there was because it will help improve interactions on both sides of the Strait," said PFP chairman James Soong (
Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"[The 1992 consensus] is a firm base of mutual trust for both sides and the cross-strait relationship will lose stability if the government breaks down that base," said Ma.
As to the latest polling, the ruling DPP and KMT both claim to be leading.
"Polls show that the DPP leads the KMT by at least 2.5 percent," DPP Secretary General Wu Nai-jen (吳乃仁) said yesterday. "We believe that some KMT lawmakers will choose to join us after the election."
Wu refused to name any potential KMT defectors, stressing that the ruling party has not yet discussed conditions for future cooperation.
The KMT's Organization and Development Department Director Chao Shou-po (趙守博), however, said that more than 12 recent polls confirmed that the KMT is in the lead.
"We will win at least 90 seats in the legislative elections, seven or eight seats more than the DPP," Chao said. "And we found from the polls that more than 12 percent of those who voted for Chen Shui-bian in last year's presidential election will shift to the KMT."
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