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.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
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STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
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