TSU candidates condemn Southern Taiwan Society

The Taiwan Solidarity Union's (TSU) candidates in both the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral elections yesterday vowed to stay in the race despite of a pro-independence group's calls for them to quit to boost the chances of a pan-green camp victory.

The Southern Taiwan Society issued a statement on Monday urging Clara Chou (周玉蔻) in Taipei and Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) in Kaoshiung to withdraw from the races for the "benefit Taiwan and the TSU itself."

TSU headquarters yesterday urged the group to apologize for calling on Chao and Lo to quit.

Party Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強) said the group had "crossed the line" by issuing the public statement.

The group had also violated the Election and Recall Law of Civil Servants (公務人員選舉罷免法) by saying that if the pan-green camp loses the elections, Taiwan might be annexed by China, Shu said.

Chien Lin Whei-jun (錢林慧君), Lo's campaign spokeswoman, said the society should focus on teaching the public how to pick the best leaders instead of working against TSU candidates. If the group does not apologize within three days, the TSU would sue them, she said.

Chou said the members of the Southern Taiwan Society are all intellectuals, so it was surprising that they had come out with such an anti-democratic statement.

Calling the issuing of the statement "Taiwan's shame," Chou said she would remain in the race to "fight hegemony."

The society issued a statement last night saying that it would not withdraw its previous statement or apologize to the TSU.

Additional reporting by CNA