Less than 24 hours ahead of today's election, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday condemned violence amid an assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (
The party suspended all campaign activities immediately after the shooting.
DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
"We condemn all violence and we urge all of our supporters to remain calm and pray for the health and well-being of the president and vice president. In order to stabilize society and to allow the election to be held tomorrow, we are suspending all of our campaign activities.
"We are asking our local officials, elected mayors and county commissioners to carry on the responsibilities of maintaining local social order. We urge our supporters to refrain from any kind of emotional confrontation with supporters of the other camp," Chang said.
DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (
Hsiao said the party's most significant effort yesterday was to prevent supporters from confronting blue-camp supporters.
"We've heard supporters of the other camp saying that it's a show and Chen has been putting on. We hope our supporters won't get into confrontations because of such remarks," Hsiao said.
All four campaign rallies planned for last night in Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taoyuan and Taipei were canceled.
DPP campaign manager Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said that to "prevent any further activities that might cause further anxieties and worries for the president, and to maintain social order and harmony, we've decided to stop immediately all campaign activities. We also discourage any kind of prayer meetings."
Thousands of anxious supporters yesterday gathered at the campaign headquarters on Minsheng East Road, sounding bullhorns and shouting "A-bian Dong Suan," which is Taiwanese for "Chen get elected."
Priests and monks were invited to the headquarters to hold a prayer ceremony for Chen.
"It is really horrible if among us there is an assassin. The election has come to this point and being spoiled with this incident, it really makes a mockery of our democracy," an elder supporter said yesterday.
"We will give our utmost support to A-bian by giving him our votes tomorrow. We want the world to know Taiwan loves democracy, peace and no violence," a woman said while wiping away her tears.
Amid disappointment and worries, thousands of DPP supporters yesterday swarmed into the DPP headquarters and lingered until late last night to pray for Chen's health and re-election.
Chang told the crowd: "Don't forget our goal to keep walking the road of democracy, no matter what."
Former DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (
Although the party yesterday canceled campaign activities, crowds of supporters yesterday remained at the Taipei Chungshan Soccer Stadium, where a half million people were supposed to attend a rally.
Rally hosts professor Shieh Jhy-wey (
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who took part in a motorcade rally in Taipei City yesterday, called off his campaigning for Chen following reports of the shooting.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Chu-wen (
Lee earlier yesterday appealed to his supporters to vote for Chen and in the referendum.
"Tomorrow will be the day of the moment of truth. Everyone should come out and give your vote to A-bian and the referendum to allow Taiwan to walk on the path of democracy and to give a better future for our next generation," Lee told crowds in Taipei's Wanhua and Tatung districts, which traditionally support the DPP.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
A bipartisan group of US senators has introduced a bill to enhance cooperation with Taiwan on drone development and to reduce reliance on supply chains linked to China. The proposed Blue Skies for Taiwan Act of 2026 was introduced by Republican US senators Ted Cruz and John Curtis, and Democratic US senators Jeff Merkley and Andy Kim. The legislation seeks to ease constraints on Taiwan-US cooperation in uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), including dependence on China-sourced components, limited access to capital and regulatory barriers under US export controls, a news release issued by Cruz on Wednesday said. The bill would establish a "Blue UAS
RSS