One glance at the frequent overseas trips made by People First Party (PFP) Chairmen James Soong (宋楚瑜) and the travel itinerary of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), one might automatically assume that the running mates are taking their campaign overseas to garner votes of emigrants.
Acknowledging that that is a valid explanation, political observers have noted that image-building and international popularity are the main campaign objectives behind the pair's frequent overseas trips in the run up to next March's presidential race.
"Given that most overseas voters don't return for elections, Lien's and Soong's overseas visits are mainly for the purpose of image-building. They mean to convince domestic voters that they are competent enough to head the nation's top positions," said Emile Sheng (
According to information from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC), approximately 2,000 Taiwanese emigrees were registered to vote in the presidential election of 2000.
During the 1996 presidential election -- Taiwan's first-ever popular presidential election -- a turnout of 2,512 overseas citizens returned to Taiwan to vote.
Noting that votes from overseas citizens contribute only to a very small portion of total votes -- so small that they have virtually no impact -- it is the domestic electorate the pan-blue alliance wishes to send a message to by making overseas trips.
"Through their frequent overseas trips, Lien and Soong wish to bolster their images and demonstrate to their compatriots their competency as national leaders who are capable of discussing global issues with leaders in other countries," Sheng said.
Soong is slated to return to Taipei today after a three-day visit to South Korea.
Prior to his Seoul trip, Soong had visited Japan in March, number of European countries such as the Netherlands and Britain in August and the US and Canada earlier last month.
Soong had said that he does not rule out the possibility of making another overseas trip after his South Korean visit.
Meanwhile, Lien is slated to leave later this month for a two-week visit to Britain, the Czech Republic and the US.
Aside from image-building, Sheng added that these overseas trips also serve the purpose for Lien and Soong to communicate with world leaders and advocate the KMT-PFP alliance's 2004 election policy guidelines and campaign platforms.
"This is especially true for the US [visits]: The KMT-PFP alliance wants the basic stances on a number of critical issues to be known and is trying to make sure that Washington remains neutral," in the competition between the pan-blue and pan-green camps in Taiwan's upcoming presidential election, Sheng said.
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