President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen caused a stir on Sunday when he told attendants at the Formosan Association for Public Affairs' 25th anniversary dinner that "Taiwan will say yes to independence, Taiwan will be correctly named, Taiwan will have a new constitution, Taiwan will develop. There is no left-right political axis in Taiwan, just the question of independence or assimilation."
Chen said yesterday the remarks were in line with his policy goals to "insist on Taiwanese consciousness" and to "work for social fairness and justice."
"I've been thinking for quite some time and think it is necessary for me to elaborate on the two aspects," he said. "That is why I made the comments on Sunday. They made the policy goals more organized and memorable."
Chen said he hoped a clearer picture of the policy goals would help consolidate a public consensus to work for the progress of the country.
Chen made the remarks while addressing a Lunar New Year gathering of members of industrial and commercial groups in Taipei yesterday afternoon.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (
TAIEX fell 3.74 percent on Monday amid market weakness across the region following Wall Street's slide last week. Some blamed the plunge on the remark Chen made on Sunday.
Some believed Chen's speech was an attack against Lee, who recently said independence was not an issue because Taiwan was already independent.
When approached by reporters for further comments in Taoyuan yesterday, Lee said the fall of the stock market had a lot to do with Chen's comment.
Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu predicted on Monday that her announcement to run in the party primary for next year's presidential election yesterday would help boost the stock market. TAIEX rose yesterday by 106.5 points.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday urged prosecutors to investigate whether Chen made his remarks on Sunday in a bid to help the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) or others profit from the TAIEX plunge the next day.
KMT Legislator Hsu Shao-ping (
In response, DPP caucus whip Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) told another press conference that if the KMT's logic held true, the pan-blue camp should also give Chen the credit for the rise of the TAIEX yesterday.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman David Wang (
The explaination said the president's remarks were aimed at expounding the direction of Taiwan's national development and were a reflection of China's suppression.
Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (
Additional reporting by Jewel Huang
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