In the pouring rain with a backdrop of pounding drums and blaring air-horns, DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) called on a crowd of over 100,000 to come and help rewrite Taiwan's history on election day.
Standing on a huge stage with a three-story backdrop, Chen called on supporters to take their cue from Lee Yuan-tseh to help the DPP to successfully carry out a shift in power.
"Those who are standing beside Lien Chan and James Soong are gangsters and corrupt officials like Luo Fu-chu (羅福助), Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), Wu Tze-yuan (伍澤元), and Kuo Ting-tsai (郭廷才)," Chen said .
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING TAIPEI TIMES
Chen said that people like Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), National Security Council advisor, Chen Pi-chao (陳必照), and leading businessmen like Nita Ing of the Taiwan High Speed Railway Corporation, Chi Mai president Hsu Wen-lung, and Acer CEO Stan Shih (施振榮) were willing to step in behind him.
These supporters have expressed a willingness to join Chen Shui-bian's National Policy Advisory Committee if he is elected.
"The KMT has been in power for 55 years and now elites in our society who have a good image and are eager to reform are here to help us," Chen said as rain continued to fall.
Chen said that corruption would never be eradicated if either independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) or KMT candidate Lien Chan (連戰) were elected.
On the stage with Chen were his running mate, Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), and DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) and his wife.
Former presidential candidate Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) was also on stage wearing an "A-bian" fishing cap along with Academia Sinica member Lee Chen-yuan (李鎮源).
Chen praised those who had stepped forward to support him, most notably Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh.
Supporters in the crowd were undaunted by the rain, waving flags and standing for the entire duration of the rally.
Chen dismissed his opponents claims that he would provoke China if elected.
Chen said he would not deliberately not press three related moves that might destabilize cross-strait relations.
"I would not push for an amendment to include the `two-state theory,' in the Constitution, nor would I push for a referendum on the issue of whether Taiwan should seek independence or re-unify with China," he said.
He also said that, in the current circumstances, it is not necessary to change Taiwan's official name of the Republic of China, adding that the move wouldn't take place unless China attacks Taiwan.
Chen called on all of his supporters to join together and make an historic choice: to change Taiwan's fate and root out corruption from politics.
"Four years ago Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) and Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) -- the DPP ticket in the 1996 election -- weren't able to see a transition in power and now we do have a chance and we will win," the DPP candidate told the crowd.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
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