Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday denied a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) claim that his party would assassinate him and allow his running mate to run for president.
Hsieh, who returned to Taiwan yesterday evening from a four-day visit to Japan, said he had learned that some Chinese media had reported that the DPP could "sacrifice" him in order to win the election.
"Don't believe all the information coming from China so easily," he said. "They said somebody would kill me and that I would be sacrificed. They would then blame it on the DPP."
Hsieh made the remarks during a question-and-answer session at a press conference in Tokyo yesterday.
Hsieh said he has run against the KMT in nine elections and that every time that the KMT played "dirty tricks," they blamed it on their rivals.
Referring to the meeting between American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt and KMT vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew and KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (
"I believe the KMT is under a lot of pressure, so it spreads rumors -- such as that President Chen Shui-bian (
Commenting on the arrest of a former intelligence officer who allegedly sent a letter in which he threatened to kill Chen and rape his daughter, Hsieh said he wrote a will when the DPP was founded, because he feared he would be arrested by the KMT regime over his political beliefs.
"Violence and intimidation is wrong," he said. "I would not reveal any threat imposed on me because it would only cause more fear."
Hsieh said he did not mean to imply that he has no fear, but that true bravery comes from overcoming fear.
Hsieh said yesterday that it could be difficult for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to publicly endorse him before the legislative elections next month, as Lee would back the Taiwan Solidarity Union, of which he is the spiritual leader.
Praising Lee as a respectful politician who has made great contributions to the nation's democratization, Hsieh said that Lee had never sought to prevent anyone from supporting him.
He said that if he were elected he would seek to engage in dialogue with China and work toward achieving cross-strait peace, but that a priority would be to ensure that the nation's sovereignty and integrity were upheld.
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