Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
"We hope that communist China will adopt a hands-off policy vis-a-vis Taiwan's election," Lien said when asked about the Chinese-French exercises.
"Chen Shui-bian has been trying to use a confrontational situation between the two sides of the Strait to his own benefit," Lien told a news conference.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"I think mainland China is not foolish enough to correspond in such a matter," Lien said.
Beijing has dismissed suggestions of a link between the timing of the unprecedented joint exercises -- launched on Tuesday about 1,250km from Taiwan's northernmost point -- and the presidential election on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Chen told an election rally France was "evil hearted" for siding with China in exchange for its own commercial interests.
"China test-fired missiles in 1996 and waged a war of words four years ago. This time ... China and France even conducted joint exercises that are the biggest yet in scale," Chen said.
Meanwhile, with the election countdown at less than 72 hours, the campaign team of the opposition KMT-People First Party (PFP) alliance is gearing up with hectic campaign events in the final hours.
Three mass campaign rallies are slated to take place tonight in Tainan City, Kaohsiung County and Taipei County. In a political division of labor, the alliance's presidential hopeful Lien will take the stage in the rallies in the south while his running mate, PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), will lead the rally in Hsinchuang, Taipei County.
On the election eve of tomorrow night, four big campaign rallies will be staged simultaneously in Taipei, Taoyuan County, Taichung and Koahsiung to give Lien's election bid a final injection before voters go tothe polls on Saturday.
According to the alliance's tentative planning, Lien and his wife, Lien Fang Yu (
As for Soong, he and his wife, Chen Wan-shui (
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who also doubles as the campaign manager of the alliance's national campaign headquarters, will first take the stage promoting Lien's candidacy in Taipei before heading to Taichung, while the legislative speaker and the director-general of the alliance's national campaign headquarters, Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), will stump for Lien and Soong in Kaohsiung first before showing up at the rally in Taoyuan.
The alliance's spokesman, Alex Tsai (
Aiming to maintain Lien's lead over President Chen Shui-bian (
Lien will today take part in street processions in Sangchung, Hsinchuang and Luchou areas while Soong will appeal to passers-by for support in Chunghho, Yungho and Hsintien. Ma will attempt to boost Lien's popularity in the Panchiao area.
Not forgetting the nation's eastern side, Lien yesterday afternoon took part in a street procession in downtown Hualien.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS