President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen spoke in Taipei yesterday morning in response to a report in the Chinese-language China Times yesterday that said Hsieh seemed destined to lose the election because he would not be able to win the key constituencies of Taichung and Yunlin counties.
Brushing off the report, Chen, citing his own experience, said that various polls had put his ticket with Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) in third place in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election, but they nevertheless went on to win.
PHOTO: CNA
In the 2004 presidential election, Chen said that several polls by local media claimed that 60 percent of the respondents favored the ticket of Lien Chan (連戰) and James Soong (宋楚瑜).
However, in the end, he and Lu were re-elected, Chen said.
For next year's presidential election, Chen said Hsieh was in a much better position than he had been in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, so he had total confidence in Hsieh's ability to win.
Those who support Taiwan and hold a positive view of the country will win, while those who fail to support it will lose, Chen said.
"These invariably are the rules of the game," he said.
As to Hsieh's running mate, Chen said he believed Hsieh would nominate a suitable candidate and that it was quite normal to listen different opinions before a candidate is chosen in democracies.
At a separate setting yesterday, Hsieh's campaign manager Lee Ying-yuan (
"The media speculation was nothing but speculation," Lee said.
Additional reporting by Flora Wang
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all