President Chen Shui-bian (
"We know that winning 100 seats is a difficult task but it is not unreachable," said DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
"The president believes there is a lot of room for the DPP to increase the number of its seats, as long as we make an all-out effort in the home stretch," Lee said.
According to the latest poll, the DPP might secure 94 seats -- with 73 local legislators and 21 at-large legislators, Lee said. He added that Chen hopes that the party will win at least 78 elected seats that it can name 22 legislators-at-large and thereby take 100 seats.
"If the Taiwan Solidarity Union [TSU] can get at least 20 seats, it is not a dream for the pan-green camp to become the largest alliance in the legislature," Lee said.
At present the DPP has 87 seats and the TSU has 13.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Chung Chia-pin (
"Chen encouraged candidates to believe that gaining a majority is more important than achieving personal success," Chung said.
Chung said the party thinks constituencies in the north and center have the potential to elect more DPP candidates.
He added that the party's four campaign teams have raised the DPP's support rate and Chen will join the campaign trail to boost the candidates' momentum in the middle of next month.
"The DPP sees that the pan-green's turf is steadily growing and the pan-blue camp is losing its support," DPP Information and Culture Department Director Cheng Wen-tsan (
He predicted that the People First Party (PFP) would lose at least 10 seats because of a series of malicious remarks. Cheng cited Chen's statements in the Central Standing Committee meeting that the PFP's remarks might have destroyed diplomatic achievements and caused insurmountable damage.
"The PFP might just eat its own bitter fruits when the election results are announced," Cheng said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai