President Chen Shui-bian (
"Events will repeat those of four years ago," Chen told reporters yesterday. "After the pan-blues lose the election, crowds will gather outside the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) headquarters to ask party Chairman Lien Chan (
"Clearly Lien will have to step down and take responsibility for the party's failure and many political observers believe that the speaker of the Legislative Yuan, Wang Jin-pyng (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
`Chaos will end'
The president made a campaign tour of eastern Taiwan by train during which he took the opportunity to talk to the media. Chen stressed that his victory would bring the nation stability in political interaction, economic development, social order and the cross-strait relationship.
"The Legislative Yuan has become the biggest source of chaos in Taiwan because in the past few years two thugs were manipulating it, bringing about irrational boycotts. But we are confident that after wining the presidential election this chaos will end," Chen said.
Chen said he expected his victory to cause a major reorganization of the pan-blue camp; both the KMT and its ally, the People First Party (PFP), would have to make huge changes to meet the expectations of Taiwanese society.
"The KMT, under Wang Jin-pyng's leadership will have to follow the localization trend," Chen said. "If they don't, pro-localization heavyweights will leave the party."
"As for the PFP, since it is a one-person party, Chairman James Soong (
Chen stressed that those KMT legislators who were disappointed with the party and some other independents with good reputations would be willing to cooperate with the DPP.
"Therefore, we do not even have to wait for the results of the year-end legislative elections," Chen said. "The majority alliance can be realized after March 20."
However, Chen would not say whether the DPP has contacted any KMT or independent legislators to discuss this issue.
Old hat
Commenting on the impact of the pan-blue camp's "Oppose A-bian and change the president" rally last Saturday, Chen said that such a campaign activity only appealed to core supporters but did not attract new support.
"I retain my prediction that the DPP will win by a narrow margin of between 3 and 5 percent, which represents around 300,000 to 500,000 ballots.
Chen then criticized Lien and Soong for their controversial gesture on Saturday of prostrating themselves to kiss the ground.
False humility
"What Lien and Soong did during the rally was simply a campaign gimmick," Chen said, adding that they chose the wrong day for a display of humility.
"If not, we hope that they can learn from the former German chancellor Willy Brandt, who [in Warsaw in 1970] kneeled and kissed the ground of Poland to repent for Germany's crime against that country, and apologize on Feb. 28 for their crimes in slaughtering Taiwanese people during the 228 incident in 1947, " Chen said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS