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Koo encourages Lu in her bid

Vice President Annette Lu, left, meets with former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming at Koo's office in Taipei yesterday morning. PHOTO: CNA

Despite his controversial remark that "someone in a skirt would not make a good commander-in-chief," former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) yesterday voiced his encouragement for Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) presidential bid.

Koo said his comment was made on the basis of China's military threat and possibility of military confrontations.

"But there won't be a war in the Taiwan Strait," Koo said, "because China wouldn't want to drive away foreign investors and risk an economic collapse."

In the worst-case scenario, Koo said: "I would welcome [a war]."

"Taiwan's biggest crisis is the lack of a national consensus on the nation's future despite the military threat from China," he said. "But if China were to launch a military attack against Taiwan, a consensus would be formed within a week."

Koo made the remarks while meeting with Lu at his office in Taipei yesterday morning.

Denying his notorious remark was targeted at Lu and that he had changed his tune, Koo said he admired Lu's determination to run for president.

"She is a very special woman," he said. "It is not easy to be consistent all these years and I wish her all the best."

If all the female voters supported her, Lu would easily be elected, Koo said, adding that if Taiwan had a female president, he believed there would be a "big change" in the nation's politics.

Koo said he expected future national leaders to be strong-minded, reliable and capable of responding in time of crisis.

Dressed formally in a pink top and skirt, Lu joked she should probably have worn trousers.

She said she did not visit Koo to discuss her presidential bid, but rather to raise funds for an after-school educational program she initiated.

Lu, however, complimented herself as the first female politician to advocate the twin concepts of "connecting with the international community" and "preventive diplomacy."

"Taiwan's democracy is the best line of defense," she said. "That's what I call preventive diplomacy.'"

Hailing herself as an "all-round" national leader, Lu criticized her male contenders for hiring specialists to map out their election platforms, while she came up with her own.

Lu is competing with former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun for the party's nomination.

Meanwhile, Hsieh yesterday visited a pro-independence group and promised to participate in the TV debate being organized by the group on March 24.

Saying that politicians must accept constant challenges, Hsieh said he accepted the invitation right after the organization announced its plan and before the DPP decided to hold one of its own.

While the party's presidential hopefuls are obliged to attend debates organized by the party, they should also take advantage of other events hosted by other institutions to publicize their position.

Hsieh said President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did not have any preference on the issue, while other aspirants did, but he refused to name names.

In a separate setting yesterday, Su said the party primary would not be necessary if the president's attempts to mediate a solution succeeded.

After a second round of mediation between Chen and the four presidential hopefuls on Tuesday night, the four agreed to hold negotiations to select the party's presidential candidate, vowing that they would neither withdraw from the DPP nor run on their own if they did not secure the party's nomination.

Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
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