As the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) gets ready to nominate President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as its candidate for the March presidential election on Dec. 10, party heavyweights are ready to put their campaign stra-tegy into motion.
A report in the Liberty Times yesterday speculated that Taipei County Commissioner Su Chen-chang (
Although Chang yesterday declined to comment on the structure of the campaign team, he said cooperation among the Presidential Office, the Cabinet and party headquarters has been harmonious.
"The Presidential Office, the Cabinet and party headquarters have always been smooth in liaising with each other. It has been a long-term tacit understanding [among the three bodies] and no one would clash with one another. There has been good teamwork," Chang said.
Chang said 2,000 groups nationwide will be set up to help Chen's re-election bid and Chen will decide whether Su is appointed to head the campaign team.
The president is expected to announce his running-mate on Dec. 13. The major positions on the campaign team are expected to be decided after that date.
"We can't confirm yet whether Su will be the director-general of the campaign team, as it should be decided solely by the presi-dent," Chang said.
Meanwhile, he stressed the party will demand that DPP administration officials strictly follow administrative impartiality during the campaign.
"President Chen has mentioned many times that party officials who have administrative duties should stand by the principle of administrative neutrality. For example, Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) has been asked not to participate in campaign activities," Chang said.
"Other executive agencies such as the defense ministry and the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen will be advised not to do so," he said.
Meanwhile, amid the increasing use of negative propaganda by both the DPP and the pan-blue alliance, Chang demanded yesterday that all DPP officials make only accusations based on facts.
DPP Legislator Chang Ching-fang (張清芳) recently alleged that People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) had an extramarital affair with his former secretary, Yang Yun-tai (楊雲黛) -- an accusation PFP lawmakers said was groundless.
Chang said the party was concerned about the veracity of any public remarks by DPP officials, who should be careful that their charges are based on facts.
"The DPP will not adopt negative propaganda during the 2004 presidential election [campaign]," Chang said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching