Taiwan's first lady says she has warned her husband that if he gets mired in sex scandals like former US president Bill Clinton, she'll campaign against him in the next election.
"If you run for something, I'll run for it, too," Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) joked on Tuesday at a news conference for a new coffee-table book about President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), President A-Bian: Up Close and Personal (總統開門 -- 打開民主世紀之門).
Wu said she could be like former US first lady Hillary Clinton and have a successful political career of her own. Hillary Clinton won a Senate seat after her husband left office.
During past campaigns, President Chen's opponents and some media reports have accused him of having affairs. But the allegations have not been backed up with evidence, and they have appeared to be part of a tradition of vicious negative campaigning.
The wheelchair-bound Wu has been paralyzed from the waist down since a truck ran over her three times in 1985 during the repressive martial law era. The case was never solved, and many believe it was a politically motivated murder attempt.
Although the first lady is frail, the former legislator is known for her spunky personality, outspokenness and hot temper. Many believe she is one of the president's closest advisers.
She also kidded the president, for having a "tuna belly," Taiwanese slang for a paunch or "beer belly."
Wu said buying pajamas for the president was impossible because if she bought the small size, his protruding belly would pop the buttons on the pants. But if she bought the medium size, the sleeves would be too long for his short arms.
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