After learning that independent presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) had selected a relative unknown as his running mate for the March 2000 election, DPP and New Party leaders said they were surprised by the choice. Soong chose Chang Gung University President Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄), a doctor by profession, as his running mate.
Although DPP and New Party leaders agreed that Chang's personality and career as a distinguished physician is top notch, they expressed concerns over his lack of experience in politics, saying it could be a potential risk for the country.
"Politics, just like the field of medicine, is a specialized field. Just as no politician can perform a heart operation without experience and training, it is also true that no heart surgeon can be a good head of state without experience," Li Ao (李敖), the New Party's presidential candidate, said.
At the same time, Li also lashed out at Soong, saying he was setting a "bad example" for democracy by his choice of Chang as a running mate, noting that it was typical old-style KMT politics.
"The past two presidents, Chiang (Ching-kuo) and Lee Teng-hui (
Li said that Soong's choice of Chang followed that principle, but that the result was worse than the choices of Chiang and Lee.
"Even though Lee Teng-hui (who was once Chiang's Vice President), Lee Yuan-tsu (李?蜂L) and Lien Chan (3s戰) -- both vice presidents under Lee -- actually did `keep silent' during their terms, the public knew that both were experienced in handling the nation's machinery," Li said.
"But Chang Chao-hsiung is a bookish man. If Soong was elected as president, and if an accident occurred, would the public be confident enough to trust Chang's leadership?"
"Instead of commenting on Soong's running mate, I would rather hope there is a `gentlemen's competition' in the presidential campaign," said Chen Shui-bian (
Other DPP leaders said that the selection of Chang just shows that Soong could not find any political heavyweights to run with him and that Soong could only find a "spare tire."
"We are curious to hear how Chang will express his views on cross-strait and foreign policies, especially the position of Taiwan in the international community and the TMD issue," said Chen Chi-mai (
"Anyway, the DPP is confident of getting support from the medical community since doctors usually support us in elections," Chen, who is also a doctor, said. "But we must find out which organizations or persons persuaded Chang to go over to the Soong camp."
Meanwhile, independent presidential candidate Hsu hsing-liang (
"The Vice President is as important as the President under the Constitution," Hsu said. "Presidential candidates should make their choices for running mate in a responsible way and not only think about campaign strategy."
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