Election-related violence escalates into street fights

As the Dec. 1 election nears, violence related to the elections are also increasing. Former president Lee Teng-hui was harassed by a New Party candidate and his supporters on Tuesday during a campaign rally and flag-waving supporters of the two parties clashed on the street yesterday.

Lee, while stumping for candidates of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) in Yulin, was harassed by the New Party's legislative candidate for the area, Ho Chen-sheng (何振盛) and a group of his supporters, who threw eggs at Lee.

Yesterday, Chiu Kuo-chang (邱國昌) of the TSU led dozens of supporters to protest at the campaign office of the New Party's Elmer Feng (馮滬祥), a supporter of reunification with China who is running for a second term. Chiu's supporters chanted "love Taiwan!" during the protest action.

Chiu, giving a thumbs-down sign, accused Feng of being "pro-Beijing" and tried to install a plaque which read "Representative Office of the People's Republic of China in Taiwan" on Feng's office door.

Chiu's supporters later fled the site as Feng's supporters started shoving them and beat their car windows with flag poles. In the melee, a car knocked down Feng's daughter Feng Fu-hua (馮復華), 27, who suffered bruises on her feet. She said two others also suffered minor injuries when the car hit them.

"They did it on purpose," a tearful Feng said while being admitted to a hospital for treatment. She said that her knee, which was recently operated on, was also hurt in the incident. Feng added that she would sue those who were responsible.

But Chiu rejected her accusations and insisted that Feng's New Party supporters were to blame.

"The allegations are groundless. We were surrounded and our cars were being kicked. We were so afraid that we dared not get out of the cars," Chiu said.

Both the New Party and TSU are small parties and are deeply divided on Taiwan's relations with China. Chiu, whose party wants to resist Beijing's demands for reunification, said he only wanted to invite Feng to a policy debate.

The Dec. 1 parliamentary elections have yet again sparked deep divisions in the country over whether it should seek independence or embrace the "one China" principle, under which Taiwan is part of China.