Academic Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (
Speculation has been rife that Lee might agree to become premier if the DPP's Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) wins the presidential election on March 18. An agreement by Lee to do this might win the election for Chen; even the enthusiastic endorsement of Chen by the widely respected Nobel laureate could have a significant effect.
Hsieh Kuo-hsing
DPP officials, hoping to attract undecideded voters, have indicated that Lee could attend a giant campaign rally for Chen scheduled for March 11 to help support Chen's "anti-black gold politics" platform.
Hsieh yesterday would not say whether Lee would show up at the rally, but hinted that he may have changed his stance regarding whether or not to enter politics.
"People do change," Hsieh said, somewhat cryptically. "It all depends why and when."
Responding to reporters' questions yesterday, Chen himself was low key over the possibility of the Nobel laureate accepting the premiership, saying only that Lee believed that the transfer of power from one party to another was necessary to terminate "black gold" -- the collusion of official corruption and moneyed interests in politics -- in Taiwan.
DPP officials said during the final part of the campaign they would concentrate on mobilizing the youth and intellectual vote, adding that Lee's potential role in the campaign would have significant impact on such voters.
"We are going to hold three huge campaign rallies [next week] in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung to mobilize a million supporters to raise morale. If Lee promises to participate in one of them, the DPP could win the election," said Jimmy Kuo
DPP officials revealed yesterday that Lee is still considering whether to attend a DPP rally or to make a formal declaration expressing his support for Chen -- either directly or indirectly.
"Lee will publicly appeal to voters to join the movement against vote buying and `black gold' politics and we will be in complete harmony with that. That is the best way to tell voters that Lee stands with us," DPP officials said.
The apparent efforts to bring Lee over to Chen's side has not been lost on Chen's rivals.
Tsai Cheng-yuan
Tsai said Lee is a respectable social figure, not a politician and he criticized Chen for using "political manipulation" to damage Lee's reputation and social status.
Tsai called on Chen to withdraw from the election to show his respect to Lee.
Kao Tzu-min
Kao alleged an entrepreneur donated a large sum of funds for President Lee Teng-hui
He said it was inappropriate to declare the nomination of any official before the election.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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