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Hsieh vows to promote ethnic harmony, justice

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday signed a memorandum to support harmony among ethnic groups.

Hsieh promised to respect differences among ethnic groups and promote awareness of the issue. He also pledged not to incite ethnic confrontation nor support criticism or behavior that may sabotage ethnic harmony. Finally, he agreed to take the initiative to advance understanding among different ethnic groups and pursue social justice.

Hsieh signed the memorandum during a visit by Chien Hsi-chieh, executive director of Peacetime Foundation Taiwan, to his campaign office yesterday afternoon.

However, media attention shifted to a representative of the Trans-Asia Sisters Association, Wu Yu-jen (武玉貞), when she condemned Hsieh for making inappropriate remarks about Chinese women married to Taiwanese men.

Wu said she was very upset when she saw an online news report saying Hsieh had called on Taiwanese men to stop being "pigs" and marrying Chinese women because they were "cheap."

`cheap'

"His remark makes people think that Chinese women are cheap and that they are for sale," she said.

Hsieh said the media had twisted his words and caused him much harm. Hsieh said he remembered he was talking about the "common market" proposed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長).

Hsieh said it was a fact that many Chinese women were smuggled in and forced into the sex trade. While some told him that was because Chinese women were cheaper, he told them that then those men were "pigs."

"I was denouncing Taiwanese men who thought Chinese women were cheap and who buy sex," he said. "I never said Taiwanese men who marry Chinese women were pigs."

During his 20 some years in politics, Hsieh said he had never provoked ethnic tension and was known for promoting co-existence and reconciliation.

When approached for comment afterward, Wu said she still found Hsieh's explanation "not very acceptable."

CHINESE INTERESTS

In related news, Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩), a Hsieh spokesperson, asked KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to clarify ifhe would allow Chinese capital to enter the local market if he were elected.

DPP Taipei City Councilor Yen Sheng-kuan (顏聖冠) said she would like to know whose side Ma would be on when national interests collided with that of his sister's business.
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