Fri, Mar 10, 2000 page1

• Vote for Lien, avoid war, campaign staff trumpet

  STABILITY CARD The Vice President's camp has again hinted that a vote for the DPP would lead to war, even as the KMT urges rivals to stop the mud-slinging

  • By Chiu Yu-Tzu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Staffers from KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan's (連戰) campaign claimed yesterday that Taiwan's people are "unprepared for a war with China," while suggesting a peaceful future as promised by Lien is still the ultimate hope of voters in next Saturday's election.

  The comments followed statements by officials for DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to the effect that the Chinese government is prepared for a Chen victory.

  That assertion was soon rejected by Lien's campaign.

  

  KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan, dressed in a coat with the signatures of doctors who support him on it, waves to the crowd during a rally in front of his campaign headquaters in Changhwa County yesterday.

  PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

  "If China does take Chen's victory into consideration, it doesn't mean that Taiwanese people are prepared for a war with China," said KMT legislator Eric Chu (朱立倫), a spokesman for Lien -- hinting that a Chen victory would be followed by a war across the Strait.

  The continued sparring over the so-called "stability card" was accompanied yesterday by the launch of a new TV advertisement -- believed to be sponsored by the KMT -- with the message that if Chen is elected, 85 percent of Taiwanese males aged between 20 and 29 would immediately be sent to the battlefield.

  The commercial features martial music and soldiers marching to war.

  Campaigning in Ilan County yesterday afternoon, however, Chen argued that he would never risk Taiwan's future and sacrifice the lives of its people.

  "I don't feel Mr Jiang (Jiang Zemin, 江澤民) has any intention of declaring war on Taiwan. Why does Lien Chan keep threatening the Taiwanese people like this?" Chen told supporters.

  Lien campaign staffers said they were not surprised that a fierce debate over the emotional and sensitive China issue is the focus of attention as voting day approaches.

  Wu Chung-li (吳中立), a spokesman for Lien, insisted that "What we have shown in the commercial is a fact. The other candidates, like independent candidate Hu Hsin-liang (許信良), also said Chen is a dangerous person."

  The vice president's campaign has also begun a series of preventative strategies, by providing answers in advance to expected attacks on Lien by his opponents.

  At a press conference yesterday, Chu called upon opponents' camps not to play up negative measures during the last stages of the campaign.

  Chu said potentially offensive tactics by Lien's two main rivals -- Chen and independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) -- could be best described as playing the so-called "four-color cards" (四色牌, a traditional gambling game in Taiwan).

  The four colors represent different kinds of negative campaign measures, as well as "begging for sympathy" (悲情牌).

  The latter tactic refers to complaints from rival party officials -- who often get down on their knees to plead with the public -- that Taiwan has been abused by the KMT for over five decades.

  Chu said that one of the four-color strategies was to paint Lien red -- that is, targeting Lien's proposal to ensure security and peace across the Strait by claiming he would maintain a good relationship with China.

  Chu said that the other three strategies expected to be used by opponents include "gold" -- alleging that the KMT is allotting funds to grassroots supporters to buy votes; black -- trying to blacken Lien's name by attributing all existing social problems to Lien, such as organized crime's involvement in politics; and yellow -- accusations that Lien is in favor of the sex industry.

  "An accusation raised yesterday attacked Lien for visiting a massage parlor -- exactly the `yellow' strategy we predicted. But it's total nonsense," said Chu.

  He also said that the sharpest weapon would be the last strategy -- begging for voters' sympathy -- which he said had been adopted by the DPP in almost every campaign in the past.

  "We strongly suggest that opponents not abuse voters' sympathies," said Chu, calling the strategy "low-class."
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