Whether Taiwan is ready for a female president or not, Vice President Annette Lu's (
Acting as head of the DPP drew renewed attention to Lu's unique political style of standing up and speaking out for what she believes in. After former DPP chairman Su Tseng-chang (
But appealing to reform and integrity, Lu weathered the storm and secured the acting chairwomanship while consolidating her power base by demonstrating her extraordinary willpower to party members -- both her supporters and opponents.
Lu's political experience spanned the development of Taiwan's democracy. In the 1970s, Lu served as the vice president of Formosa Magazine, which represented a broad alliance of the so-called dangwai (黨外, "outside the party") activists.
She was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government on a charge of "abetting a violent rebellion" for a 20-minute speech on the evening of the Kaohsiung Incident (美麗島事件).
The incident, which occurred on Dec. 10, 1979, was a state crackdown on an anti-government parade organized by Formosa Magazine.
After spending almost six years in jail, Lu dedicated herself to advocating Taiwan's bid to join the UN and participated in various international conferences to promote Taiwanese independence.
After serving as a legislator for three years, Lu was elected Taoyuan County commissioner in 1997.
She won re-election in 1998.
In 2000, Lu became the first female vice president of Taiwan.
Within the DPP, Lu, who was educated at Harvard Law School, has been considered a maverick and some party members have privately criticized her for always acting on her own without regard for others' suggestions. She has also been described as difficult to work with.
Lu's outspokenness is a trait that sets her apart from from other local political figures.
Many people appreciate her bluntness, yet some think her headstrong manner stems from a self-centered personality.
"Lu is so straightforward that many DPP heavyweights have her in their sights as a potential adversary in the next presidential election," said Shih Cheng-feng (
But Lu's strong character and inflexible attitude might be the leadership that Taiwan needs now, Shih said.
"Lu's strong stance in confronting China is also another reason that many pro-independence supporters choose to stand by her," he said.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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The Taipei City Reserve Command yesterday initiated its first-ever 14-day recall of some of the city’s civilian service reservists, who are to undergo additional training on top of refresher courses. The command said that it rented sites in Neihu District (內湖), including the Taipei Tennis Center, for the duration of the camp to optimize tactical positioning and accommodate the size of the battalion of reservists. A battalion is made up of four companies of more than 200 reservists each, it said. Aside from shooting drills at a range in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), the remainder of the training would be at
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