President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the vow during a campaign rally held in Kaohsiung City last night.
During the rally, Chen once again said that it was imperative that the pan-greens are successful in the legislative elections, adding that the pan-blues have exploited their majority in the legislature while attempting to paralyze the government over the past three years.
Chen said, when he took over the office of Taipei Mayor in 1998, he told Taipei's citizens that he would improve Taipei's notorious traffic situation within two years. After his determined efforts, the traffic situation was improved.
"I believed that if people of Taiwan could give us a chance and support the pan-green camp to win a majority in the legislature -- only give us two years and I promise that I will do a good job as a president and lead the country to become a great, normal and complete country," Chen said. "Otherwise, I am willing to step down as president."
Chen added that Kaohsiung City Government, which is supported by a pan-green controlled City Council, provides an example of a government that can really do something good for citizens.
Chen also promised that if the pan-greens win a majority in the legislature, the government will pass a National Pension Law (
Legislation governing the Resolution Trust Cooperation (
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday held a campaign rally in northern Kaohsiung City to boost its legislative candidates Kuan Pi-ling (
Noticeably, the five candidates did not boast about themselves. Instead, they showered praise on their fellow candidates, showing that the united pan-green campaign strategy and vote allocation plan is working.
Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
Meanwhile, early in the day before attending the rally in Kaohsiung City, President Chen Shui-bian (
There he called on people of different ethnic groups to get along with each other and stressed that only if Taiwan's people unite can the country face threats from outside.
"It is undeniable that Taiwan has different ethnic groups. But everyone has to know we only have one country," Chen said. "I believe that Taiwan has no ethnic problem, but only a problem of national identification."
In his speech, Chen redefined the "five ethnic groups" proposed by Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), pointing out that the five ethnic groups who reside in Taiwan are Hoklo, Hakka, Aborigine, Mainlanders and foreigners -- including brides from Southeast Asian countries and China.
"It is unnecessary for a small number of ethnic groups to bear historical burdens," Chen said. "Under the principle of the DPP's Resolution on Ethnic Diversity and National Unity, there was no oppressor and victim. Everyone is equal and everyone is the owner of the land."
Chen once again stressed that "Taiwan is the Republic of China, the Republic of China is Taiwan," asking people not to hold on to fantasies about the country's territory and to acknowledge the nation's reality.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching