President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday criticized Taiwan's media for reporting the wrong ballot count on the day of the presidential election.
"Due to aggressive competition among the electronic media agencies, the ballot count figures were blown out of proportion," Chen said during a meeting with Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University, according to a statement released by the Presidential Office.
"There were even figures that showed the number of ballots my ticket had won was over 7 million, which is a good indication of exaggeration. In reality, I won with 6.47 million votes," Chen said.
Chen's meeting with Bollinger was held to congratulate Columbia University on its 250th anniversary, as well as to discuss issues such as media discipline and freedom.
"It was quite preposterous to witness the entire process of ballot counting as done by different agencies. One can only see such a unique phenomenon in Taiwan," Chen said.
He concluded that the turmoil stemming from the election was related to the exaggeration of ballot-count figures and stated that media freedom should be closely examined.
"The issues of media professionalism, self-discipline and ethics are worth a closer look," he said.
Bollinger told Chen that the university has set up a Web site to post all news related to the November US presidential election as part of an effort to offer comprehensive and accurate information to voters.
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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