Hsieh to cut back on TV ad spots

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) vowed yesterday to reduce the number of campaign commercials aired by his camp to five ahead of next month's election so he can spend the money earmarked for such ads on school lunches for students from low-income families.

Hsieh urged his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) counterpart Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to do the same. He also invited Ma to debate more on policies.

"We should have more debates and run fewer commercials because commercials are propaganda, while we can improve ourselves during debates," Hsieh said during a visit to Hsinchu's Cheng Huang Temple.

"We should also cite more facts and do less rumor-mongering," he said.

When asked to comment on the recent show of support for Ma by two major religious figures, Master Miao Tien (妙天) and Master Lin Yun (林雲), Hsieh said he believed religions are meant to tolerate different viewpoints.

Master Miao Tien, who had voiced support for Hsieh in the past, gave his backing to Ma during a Friday gathering between Ma and Fan Chen-tsung (范振宗), one of the DPP's chief campaigners in the Hakka community.

Master Lin Yun said during a birthday dinner on Friday that he would vote for Ma next month.

Hsieh urged the media not to "over-interpret" the two masters' comments.

He also questioned Ma's sincerity, saying that his rival had been secretly seeking support from "some circles."

"Honesty is the best policy ... you can visit whoever you want because this is not a bad thing. But [you] should not keep the media in the dark while trying to seek support from someone," Hsieh said.

Approached for comment in Kaohsiung, Ma said he respected Hsieh's suggestion to cut back on campaign commercials.

He also said that he had won the support of the two religious figures because of his decency.

"Many religions encourage people to do good deeds and act righteously. We have been making an effort to follow [those doctrines]," he said.

At a luncheon later in the day in Kaohsiung with members of the 24 families he had stayed with during his "long stays," Ma promised that if he was elected, he would restore "Taiwanese values" while ensuring harmony in society, the integrity of the government and peace across the Taiwan Strait.