Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday expressed her willingness to have a TV debate with her pan-blue counterpart, vice presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜).
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) campaign headquarters will negotiate with the pan-blue camp today about the arrangements for holding TV debates between both camps' presidential candidates, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
PHOTO: YEH CHIH-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Lu yesterday urged the DPP headquarters to help her arrange a vice-presidential candidate TV debate.
"While the public is accusing both camps of running a negative campaign and urges all candidates to set a good example while campaigning, I must stress that I am the only one who continues to promote policies concerning the nation's future," Lu said yesterday during the launch of her new book, The Great Future of Taiwan.
"It seems that everyone just forgets about me and my efforts to establish a clean, esteemed and honorable campaign has been completely ignored by the media, which just want to grab sensational and dirty issues."
"So, I am expecting that the media now will facilitate the opportunity to allow I and Mr. Soong to expound our ideas and visions," she said.
Lu said that the Central Election Committee only arranged a TV speech for the two vice-presidential candidates on Feb. 28, which is the day she and all DPP members will join the Taiwan Solidarity Union's (TSU) "1 million hand-in-hand" effort.
"I hope that the committee will be understanding and postpone the TV speech to the next day," she said.
During yesterday's conference, Lu again advocated creating a Democratic Pacific Union and enhancing the development of an "ocean culture" by uniting the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
She said that Taiwan's "soft power," which integrates Taiwan's outstanding achievements in technology, democracy, human rights and especially maintaining peace despite China's long-term military threats, are the best weapons to use against the Beijing authority's "Great China Empire" intentions.
Asking to comment on whether the international community's concern about President Chen's referendum plan will benefit the DPP's campaign or not, Lu said that the trend of internationalization of the "Taiwan issue" or the "cross-strait issue" will help maintain Taiwan's security.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS