President Chen Shui-bian (
"I will pay a visit to all opposition party leaders after the Dec. 11 elections and consult with them on various matters, such as constitutional reforms," Chen said at a campaign stop last night in Tao-yuan County, which is known for its large numbers of Hakka residents.
To mend the conflict between the central and local governments, Chen said that he would take the initiative to invite all local offi-cials, included those of the pan-blue camp, to the Presidential Office for tea after next Saturday's elections.
Chen reiterated his determination to push for a constitutional reform, to hold a referendum on a new constitution in 2006 and to have the new constitution implemented in 2008.
Winning a pan-green majority in the next legislature would boost the chances of reopening cross-strait negotiations, Chen said.
He said this would provide an opportunity for the two sides to seek and adopt concrete measures to reduce tensions across the Taiwan Strait, such as the establishment of code of conduct across the Strait and a military buffer zone to separate both sides' military activities.
Democratic reforms and economic development will also be among the task he will work with the new legislature to achieve, he said.
Telling the crowd that he knew not all the DPP supporters in Taoyuan County had been planning to support the party's candidates there, Chen urged voters to transform their moral support into action to ensure that all seven DPP candidates in the county are elected.
Among the other political heavyweights who took the stage last night to root for the seven DPP candidates were Vice President Annette Lu (
In other developments, the DPP announced earlier yesterday that the president will join the pan-green camp's parade in Taipei tomorrow in spite of the approach of Typhoon Nanmadol, which is expected to bring torrential rains over the next few days
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
An estimated 100,000 supporters living in the north and center of the country are expected to join the parade, which will begin from Taipei's old Sungshan Tobacco Factory.
The DPP's four campaign man-agers -- party Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (
Lu be at the starting point to announce the start of the parade, Lee said, and Chen will join the marchers before they arrive at Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office.
More marchers will be seen on Taipei streets on Sunday as pro-independence groups and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) are scheduled to hold a parade to promote the campaign for a new constitution and to rectify the country's official name.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has also organized a large-scale march in Taipei on Sunday to boost is legislative campaign.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
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China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
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