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DPP decries Chiang relative's criticism during Chen's visit

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday condemned Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Standing Committee member Chiang Fang Chih-yi (蔣方智怡) for criticizing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in front of foreign reporters during the president's stopover in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Deputy director of the DPP's Policy Research and Coordinating Committee Lo Cheng-fang (羅正方) criticized Chiang for failing to defend the nation's sovereignty.

Chiang joined a demonstration staged by overseas compatriots outside Chen's hotel after his arrival.

She told the media there that the demonstrators hoped to tell Chen he did not represent the majority in Taiwan because he told lies and was dishonest.

"The nation's ruling and opposition parties have to face Taiwan's diplomatic difficulty together," Lo said at a press conference, adding that none of the nation's political parties had the right to stand by and gloat over the nation's diplomatic plight.

"A country's leader represents that nation's sovereignty. The authority is given to him by the Constitution," he said, adding that the opposition should not make merry over the president's low-profile diplomatic trip.

DPP Legislator Lin Kuo-ching (林國慶) said it was unreasonable for Chiang, who is former president Chiang Ching-kuo's (蔣經國) daughter-in-law, to criticize Chen because the nation's diplomatic plight resulted from former dictator Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣介石) decision to leave the UN as a result of his unwillingness to remain in the body while China was also a member.

Lin urged KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to shoulder the responsibility and apologize to the public for what Chiang said.

Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
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