Chen, Lee to share stage at TSU bash

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) will share the stage on Sunday to celebrate the TSU's one-year anniversary, according to party officials.

The event is expected to draw wide media attention, especially after Chen's recent characterization that Taiwan and China are"different countries on either side of the Taiwan Strait" -- a statement which closely mirrors Lee's 1999 reformation of cross-strait ties as "state-to-state" in nature.

Lee, considered the TSU's spiritual leader, will deliver a speech on the significance of establishing a national identity and the urgency of changing the country's name to Taiwan.

Known for its pro-Taiwan position, the party has placed tremendous emphasis on the two issues.

A members' meeting will also be held Sunday, when members are slated to add "push for a referendum law" into the TSU platform.

The proposal seeks to give people the right to vote collectively on Taiwan's future.

TSU Secretary-General Lin Jih-chia (林志嘉) said yesterday that the party seeks to win 45 seats in the 2004 legislative elections and will spare no effort to assist President Chen in his anticipated bid for re-election in March 2004.

Another objective for the upcoming year is to recruit at least 10,000 new members. The party at present has no membership mechanism. There are only a few dozen members, including 13 lawmakers.

Founded on Aug. 12 last year, the TSU was Taiwan's 95th party. Its formation resulted in a significant realignment of Taiwan's political system.

Lee decided to found the party to help Chen deal more effectively with a legislature that was dominated by the KMT and PFP, who boycotted almost every policy introduced by the governing DPP.

In its political debut, the party won 13 legislative seats, winning 8.5 percent of the vote in last December's legislative elections, thanks to Lee's strong support.

Along with the DPP's 87 seats, the two parties won 100 of the 225-seats in legislature, putting an end to five decades of KMT control.

The DPP, which appeals primarily to ethnic Taiwanese, who comprise 65 percent of the nation's population, formerly opposed unification with China. However, Chen has mellowed his pro-independence position in an effort to improve ties with Beijing.

The formation of the TSU was simply Lee's way of advancing his anti-unification principles and pressing Chen to continue countering the "one-China" principle.

Led by Chairman Huang Chu-wen (黃主文), the TSU has adhered to the "Taiwan-first path," introduced by Lee.