President Chen Shui-bian (
Both candidates, locked in a neck-and-neck election campaign, were decisively more combative than they were in last week's first presidential debate, with Lien opening the verbal battle by lambasting Chen's "ideology" and "ignorance of international affairs."
Confronted with critical remarks over the DPP's accomplishments over the past four years, Chen did not entirely shy away from his government's most criticized weaknesses but emphasized that he needed time to reform the "dilapidated house" he inherited from the KMT so that the country could take off again.
After most polls and analysts gave Chen a higher performance rating following the first presidential debate, the president seemed so confident that a public debate could only boost his chances to win the election that he challenged his rival to a third round.
In his concluding remarks in the debate, Chen enthusiastically invited Lien to "a third, even a fourth" debate. Lien did not immediately accept the invitation.
The DPP knew from the beginning of its negotiations with the KMT about the debates that these public events would give Chen an edge. The DPP wanted more than two debates, but the KMT would only tentatively agree to two, as it was concerned that Lien might damage his campaign.
"Debates are actually more Chen's strong point. Lien looked visibly relieved when the debate ended," political analyst Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) said.
Neither Chen nor Lien would comment on their performances at separate news conferences held by the DPP and the KMT after the debate.
Lien said that his aides needed to consider the proposal for another debate.
"These two debates have somehow lost focus and the issues raised were too wide-ranging," Lien said.
Chen, on the other hand, appealed for the media's help to push for a third debate.
"I invited him to a third debate, but he did not respond. I only feel sorry for you, because I understand our debates give you a heavy workload," Chen said to reporters at the DPP media conference.
TV polls on Chen's and Lien's performance in the debate showed mixed results, as they did after last week's first round. Most political analysts gave higher credits to Chen's overall performance, some for his statement that his wife's trading in stocks was "inappropriate" and some for his rhetoric skills.
Lien's 8-minute opening speech ended abruptly when his microphone was switched off because his allotted time had run out. He had been unaware that his time was running out, because a bell that was supposed to give a 30-second warning failed to ring. The moderator apologized for this.
James Chang (
"Chen looked like he was really debating. Lien sounded like he was making a speech or giving a lecture," Chang said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods