Seizing on the popularity of the Olympic Games, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday called on legislative hopefuls running in the year-end elections to uphold the Olympic spirit and establish a harmonious society.
"Although our performance in sports can not compare to that of larger countries, sportsmanship does not lie in winning the championship but in participation," Chen said.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
"It is not a competition of life and death but harmony and development which promote human society," he added.
"The Olympic spirit, is the spirit of Taiwan, too," Chen said, adding that he hopes every candidate and political party would adhere to this spirit in the year-end legislative elections and that the elections will proceed in line with the principle of fair play.
Chen made the remarks at the 2004 National Prayer Breakfast yesterday, an annual event which he has attended since it was first launched in 2001.
At the event, Chen highlighted the challenges Taiwan currently faces.
"Aside from our players competing at the Olympic Games, there is China's incessant, unreasonable oppression of Taiwan," Chen said. "Despite this, we will not be disheartened but become more courageous in the face of international setbacks."
While stressing that the nation must also continue its democratic reforms and forge a viable framework for constitutional reform, Chen added that Taiwan "must work continuously and diligently to safeguard peace in the Taiwan Strait and promote regional security and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region."
Chen also said that economic development is the lifeline of the nation and called on local bus-inesses and workers to cooperate closely to ensure survival in the face of fierce competition from China in the global marketplace. He added that Taiwan must resist the "magnetic effect" of luring foreign investment away from Taiwan to China.
Ethnic harmony, peaceful cross-strait co-existence and diplomatic reforms were among other issues Chen touched on at the prayer breakfast yesterday.
Chen, although not a Christian, concluded his address with a verse from the Old Testament's Book of Isaiah which says "a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation."
The prayer breakfast was first introduced by Dwight Eisenhower, US president from 1953 to 1961, and has since become an annual assembly of US political luminaries. Taiwan's annual prayer breakfast was initiated by the reverend Kao Chun-ming (
According to the event organ-izer, approximately 540 prominent figures from the public and private sectors attended the breakfast yesterday. Also in attendance were diplomats and representatives from other countries.
Former legislator Lai Shyh-pao (賴士葆) of the New Party and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Jen-hiang (章仁香) were among a handful of pan-blue politicians seen at the event yesterday, but the majority of local politicians there were from pan-green parties. Opposition party leaders KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) were both invited to the event, but chose not to attend.
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Taiwan yesterday issued warnings to four Chinese coast guard vessels that intruded into restricted waters around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The four China Coast Guard ships were detected approaching restricted waters south of Kinmen at around 2 pm yesterday, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu Branch said in a statement. The CGA said it immediately deployed four patrol boats to closely monitor the situation. When the Chinese ships with the hull numbers "14512," "14609," "14603" and "14602" separately entered the restricted waters off Fuhsing islet (復興嶼), Zhaishan (翟山), Sinhu (新湖) and Liaoluo (料羅) at 3 pm, the Taiwanese patrol
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.