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.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai