China described President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday as "immoral" and warned Taiwanese voters not to be tempted by his pro-independence platform in the March 20 election.
"In seeking his personal re-election, Chen has put the tangible interests of the Taiwan people at stake," National People's Congress spokesman Jiang Enzhu (
"This is indeed very immoral," he said.
"We understand and respect the Taiwan compatriots' desire for developing democracy, but we firmly oppose Taiwan authorities' pursuit of Taiwan independence and any splittist activities under the cloak of democracy," Jiang said.
He said Chen had stirred up the "indignation and condemnation" of China's 1.3 billion people.
It is the latest salvo in the war of words being orchestrated by Beijing ahead of the elections.
At Wednesday's opening session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference, chairman Jia Qinglin (
"We must unswervingly uphold the one-China policy, resolutely oppose separatist activities of any sort that are designed to bring about Taiwan independence and never allow anybody to separate Taiwan from China by any means," Jia said.
But despite the obvious distaste of China's leaders for Chen, Beijing has so far appeared to approach the elections more calmly than earlier elections.
Ballistic missile tests and military exercises ahead of presidential elections in 1996 and 2000 worked to push voters away from Beijing's preferred candidate and resulted in Chen's 2000 election.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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