Frustrated by party infighting and media attention, Vice President Annette Lu (
"I hope the media will give President Chen Shui-bian (
Lu made the remark yesterday in response to media inquiries about a remark she made on Monday. She told reporters that she will not seek re-election, and has no plans to run in the 2008 presidential election.
Lu's remark raised political eyebrows and made headlines in the Chinese-language media.
Lu yesterday said that when she and President Chen took their oaths of office in May 2000, media attention focused on who would be the next candidate for last year's presidential election. When they won re-election last year and were sworn in in May, the media again turned their attention to potential candidates in the next presidential election.
"[The media] totally ignores what the president and I are doing at the moment," she said.
Responding to the vice president's words, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday downplayed Lu's remarks and said that the most important thing for his party at the moment is to win the year-end mayoral and county commissionership elections -- not the presidential election.
"I did not hear what she said with my own ears so I don't know exactly what she was getting at," Su told reporters before the party's weekly Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday.
DPP caucus whip William Lai (
Lai also praised Lu as one of the party's outstanding talents who receives high public recognition. It is in the interests of the country, Lai said, that distinguished party members be enthusiastic about vying for the country's top posts.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese