Attempting to counteract KMT attacks over the DPP's ability to rule Taiwan, DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (
"My son will serve in the military next year, and my family members and hometown friends, who have never deposited money overseas or tried to get a foreign passport, all expect to live in stable circumstances," Chen said.
Chen also stressed that "certain" candidates or political parties are trying to scare Taiwan's people by exaggerating the possibility of war in order to benefit themselves in the campaign, but that residents of Taiwan should not follow this line.
"Some have even tried to frighten our children by talking about declarations of war. Our responsibility is to protect them, not to join those bullies," Chen said.
The KMT recently stepped up its attacks on Chen through both newspaper ads and television commercials, which claim that around 40 percent of people believe Chen is a candidate who could lead Taiwan to the edge of war.
Taking aim at Chen's pro-independence stance, the ads claim Chen is a vacillating politician who blows both hot and cold on the cross-strait issue.
Chen's commercials take a soft approach, persuading voters that he can be trusted.
In Chen's ad, his relatives and neighbors from Tainan County say they have always lived in Taiwan and expect to carry on safely doing so under Chen's leadership, saying they believe he can protect them.,
Chen said yesterday the people quoted were all ordinary residents who have served in the military.
Chen said the KMT was trying to frighten voters into thinking they were on the "edge of war," and facing a "collapse of the stock market" due to the election.
"My home is here. My family members and relatives are also living here, and they never try to send money to other countries, or try to become a citizen of another country. I certainly will protect them and this land where we will live forever," Chen said.
Chen's spokesman, Lo Wen-chia (
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