Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday tried to downplay the controversy surrounding a survey design proposed by the Presidential Office and endorsed by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
Speculation has mounted that the proposal was designed to force Lu and DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun out of the race.
Lu yesterday said that she and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) talked about the issue when they met for lunch on Monday.
"If those who wish to lead the country are bothered by such small matters, it means they don't have much confidence in themselves," she said.
Lu, who visited Taichung City and county yesterday, made the comments during a tea party with reporters yesterday afternoon in Taichung City.
Lu did not criticize the survey but insinuated that Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁) was behind it.
Chiou on Monday obtained the endorsement of Su and Hsieh for a proposal on conducting the polls. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential primary is decided by a party member vote and a public survey.
The Presidential Office began soliciting signatures from the DPP's Central Executive Committee's (CEC) 35 members to endorse the proposal so that it could pass today's committee meeting.
Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said on Monday that the survey was designed to screen out voters who support the pan-blue camp and only include those who hold the political views of the pan-green camp.
He said the poll was expected to survey 20 percent of pan-green supporters and 50 percent of "moderate" voters, while the remaining 30 percent of pan-blue supporters would be screened out.
Lu said that if the speculations about the survey proposal were true, she believed it was not President Chen's idea but that of his advisers. She also criticized those who spread the rumor that the president had come up with the proposal to exclude "two people" from the race.
"I believe the president will handle the matter fairly," she said, adding that no one should manipulate the process in an unfair manner.
Chen Chi-mai said yesterday that the Presidential Office had made some mistakes with the handling of the the survey proposal, including not consulting with Lu.
However, Chen Chi-mai said the proposed format was aimed at winning the election and not at benefitting a specific candidate.
He said that 28 of the CEC members had endorsed the proposal as of yesterday.
Meanwhile, Lu implied yesterday that she would make a better president than her male rivals.
"It is not too much to let a woman govern the country, is it?" she said. "My seven-year stint [as vice president] has prepared me for the county's top job. The others are not ready and it's too late."
Lu, the only DPP presidential hopeful who skipped Saturday's TV debate, said that the public would form their own opinions about her male contenders at the debate, but emphasized that she was more senior and experienced than the other three candidates.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai