The two biggest losers in yesterday's election made appeals and offered excuses as the dust settled and Chen Shui-bian
Independent candidate Hsu Hsin-liang
Hsu held a post-election press conference to congratulate Chen and to call on the public to reunite after a divisive election campaign. The former chairman of the DPP, Hsu left the party to make his ill-fated bid for the presidency.
FILE PHOTO
Hsu said he sincerely accepted the voters' choice and appealed to Chen to ease cross-strait tensions and promote the public's confidence in Taiwan's economy.
Hsu did not say much about his future nor did he directly answer speculation that he might try to found a new party.
"I never felt frustrated and will keep going," he said.
FILE PHOTO
New Party vice-presidential candidate Elmer Feng (馮滬祥) also held a post-election press conference, in the absence of the party's presidential candidate Li Ao (李敖), to blame his party's loss on a rumor, saying President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) wanted to "Dump Lien to save Chen" (棄連保陳).
The New Party made an abysmal showing, eking out just 0.1 percent of the total, or 16,782 votes.
The convener of the New Party caucus, Hao Lung-bin (郝龍斌), said Chen's victory was mainly based on anti-China sentiment,along with Academic Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh's (李遠哲) powerful support for Chen and the divisions within the KMT.
Hao said threatening statements from Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基) triggered Taiwanese voters' negative emotions and pushed them towards Chen. However, Hao emphasized that "the [Taiwanese] anti-China complex doesn't mean that Taiwanese espouse independence."
Responding to general doubt about the New Party's future, Hao said the poor showing was not equal to the party's demise.
"Li and Feng's endeavors in the election campaign have reached the goal of promoting the New Party's propaganda," Hao said.
Li didn't even show up at the New Party's post-election press conference, saying he was not interested in the result and was happy that the election had finally come to an end. Although Li refused to join the party as a member, he stood as its candidate.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
RSS