Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin Ying-hsiung (林義雄) yesterday lent their support to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), saying that only Chen can continue to facilitate the country's reform and defeat the counterattacks of the "black-gold" forces.
"During the past four years, there has been some progress in our country, such as the very strong ability of academic circles in promoting the country's development, the negative forces attempting to sink the entire society into depravity is still growing, as emphasized by the attempts to discredit me and the unfair allegations against me," Lee said yesterday, as he appeared alongside Chen in Taipei during a press conference.
"Considering that we must chose the candidate who can carry on reform and meet the expectations of the Taiwanese people," said Lee, "therefore I will again cast my ballot in favor of the DPP's Chen-Lu ticket, who may not be experienced, but have displayed more idealism, stronger motivation for reform and better flexibility."
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Lee had sent a statement to local media outlets Wednesday night, expressing his views of the presidential election. The president immediately visited Lee yesterday and arranged a joint press conference to vow their resolution in carrying out all reform promises.
Nobel laureate
Lee, Taiwan's sole Nobel laureate, also made a similar gesture four years ago, when he called on the public to support Chen. Lee said yesterday that his decision to vote for Chen in 2000 had not been wrong.
"Though the policymaking and administrative coordination of the DPP administration has displayed their lack of experience, we have still seen a great deal of progress in different fields. However, we also see that the negative forces are still harming our society's union, which is what has spurred me to speak up at this moment," Lee said.
He also commented on the former Tuntex Group chairman Chen Yu-hao's (
"It is Chen Shui-bian and Lien Chan (
"The media and the public should not be misled by [Chen Yu-hao's allegations]," Lee said.
"I don't think that Chen Yu-hao and Shen Fu-hsiung's remarks will affect the election. They are just petty things," Lee said.
Responding to Lee's endorsement, Chen also said that he will make the issues of improving the cross-strait relationship and easing ethnic conflict his priorities once he wins on March 20.
Promises
"President Lee asked me to carry out the promises of being honest and harmonious, nominating talent, eliminating ethnic conflict, improving the cross-strait relationship, terminating black-gold and taking care of poor and disadvantaged minorities," Chen said. "I give my word and will sincerely follow those expectations."
The president also praised the contributions of mainland Chinese to Taiwan during past decades, saying that there were only a few people who were manipulating the ethnic issue.
"My first priority after winning the election is to humbly address these ethnic issues and to normalize cross-strait interactions on the principle of peace, especially after the second referendum question establishing a `peace and stability framework' gets the approval of the Taiwanese people," Chen said.
"Moreover, I am now pledging that we will never give in to the black-gold forces counterattack," Chen said. "We believe that our victory will terminate the remnants of these negative forces in this country."
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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