President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen will likely insist that he is best able to protect the nation against China, while Lien was expected to argue he would be more successful in securing peace with Beijing, analysts said.
The centerpiece of Chen's campaign is the nation's first referendum, which will partly focus on China's missile threat. On the same day as the presidential election, voters will be asked whether the military should bolster its defenses if China refuses to remove hundreds of missiles pointed at the country. Voters will also be asked whether the government should push for talks with its giant rival.
Today, the candidates will likely open the debate by trading familiar accusations, said Lo Chih-cheng (
"Chen will picture the opposition as pro-China, and Lien will question the government's credibility," Lo said.
Yang Kai-huang (
Lien on the other hand will accuse Chen of making no progress in relations with China, Yang said.
"Lien will say that over the past four years, Chen has not achieved a peaceful solution to the conflict, while relations have grown more and more tense," Yang said.
But the academics also expect both candidates to come up with at least partially new proposals.
The candidates could try and repackage old ideas about peace agreements with China, Lo said.
Lien's original plan mentioned that such an agreement should remain valid for 50 years, Chen's for 20 years, Lo said.
Yang also expects the candidates to roll out peace plans and promises of progress on other issues.
More than 500,000 Taiwanese businesspeople are active in China, and they resent the discomfort and expense of having to travel through a third location, often Hong Kong.
But whoever wins the election, Lo is optimistic about relations with China. If Lien is the next president, then progress is likely, he said. But even if Chen manages to be re-elected, Lo sees changes ahead.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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