Tue, Feb 08, 2000 page2

• Secrets of the first wives' club

  With the presidential vote less than two months away, the major candidates are sparing no efforts to build up a sense of momentum to their campaigns. Their wives, meanwhile, have each kept busy themselves -- some offstage, some not quite offstage -- exerting a dose of so-called `women power` in a bid to win over any votes they can. Taipei Times staff reporter Lauren Chen found out that just as their husbands differ in style and philosophy, so do their `better halves.'

  • By Lauren Chen / STAFF REPORTER
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  A former "Miss ROC" beauty queen, Lien Fang Yu (連方瑀), the wife of vice president and KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰), has been dubbed by some as being "the most suitable candidate for First Lady."

  In an opinion poll released on Jan. 29 by the SET cable network, 33.3 percent of female respondents described Lien Fang Yu as "the most fitting candidate for first lady," while Chen Wang-shui (陳萬水), the wife of independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) came second with 31.1 percent. DPP presidential hopeful Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) spouse, Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) came in a distant third with just 5.2 percent.

  But KMT grass-roots leaders are not convinced of Lien Fang Yu's vote-pulling power.

  

  Lien Fang Yu, the wife of KMT candidate Lien Chan.

  FILE PHOTO

  During a swing through the counties last November aimed at boosting Lien's campaign, KMT secretary-general Huang Kun-hui (黃昆輝) was told in no uncertain terms to keep both Lien Fang Yu, as well as Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), the head of the KMT's business empire, out of the picture during the presidential race, according to a party official who preferred to remain anonymous.

  "Both Lien Fang Yu and Liu are `poison' to the KMT's presidential box office," the unidentified KMT local official said.

  Lien Fang Yu's problem is that with her "Miss ROC" background and marriage into the family of the wealthy vice president, she appears to have lived in a family-oriented gilded cage of privilege with which people find it difficult to identify.

  

  Wu Shu-chen, wife of DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian.

  FILE PHOTO

  At the same time she is neither media-savvy nor a good campaign speaker. As a result she has met with a backlash of unpopularity from the public -- much as her husband has during the campaign.

  "Unlike Soong's wife, Chen Wang-shui, Lien Fang Yu pays more attention to family and her children than to interaction with the public. So, in terms of exercising campaign language, Lien Fang Yu is not as familiar as Chen," said Chen Shei-saint (陳學聖), a KMT legislator and campaign spokesperson for Lien.

  Chen also pointed to a lack of political guile.

  

  Chen Wang-shui, wife of independent James Soong.

  FILE PHOTO

  "Lien Fang Yu is a decent and innocent person, and she has always said whatever flashes into her mind. No doubt, she has no intentions to hurt anybody, but her words could easily be given new twists by either the opposition or the media."

  Her daughter Lien Hui-hsin (連惠心) has similar concerns about her.

  "My mother treats everyone as if they are a good guy," she says. "I sometimes worry that she may be deceived [by others]."

  In such a scenario, Chen and other campaign counselors have advised Lien Fang Yu to do "less talking, more handshaking.''

  Soong's secret weapon

  Although these would-be members of the "first wives' club" all claim to dislike engaging in political affairs, both Soong's wife, Chen Wang-shui, and the wife of the DPP's Chen, Wu Shu-jen, find themselves quite welcomed -- at least compared with Lien Fang Yu -- by their husbands to help boost campaign momentum.

  Soong once described his wife as his "secret weapon,'' saying he could always rely on her to lend an ear to grass-root opinions.

  Chen has said that she has more extensive channels for gathering information at the grassroots than her husband because his political prominence makes it difficult to meet people in natural settings.

  Chu Tzong-ko (朱宗軻) a Soong campaign official who has already worked together with the former KMT secretary-general for 20 years, pointed out that Chen Wang-shui's style is rather exceptional in political circles.

  "Chen enjoys going to buy things on the street, and in the meantime she can find out what the public is thinking,'' Chu said.

  "With Chen's easy-going personality, we believe she could well draw in many votes for Soong's campaign," Chu said.

  While Chen has tried her best to boost her husband's presidential bid, she has, however, never concealed her contempt for politics, whether in public or on private occasions.

  She has said previously that she would be the "loyal opposition in my family" in order to monitor Soong's performance as an elected official.

  "I hate politics. But ironically, I married a man who cares about politics above anything else," Chen said.

  "I have no idea how power can corrupt people, but I will do my best to prevent Soong from being corrupted by this power," Chen added.

  `The most difficult job on the planet'

  The relationship between the DPP's Chen Shui-bian and his own wife, Wu Shu-chen, is probably even more interesting than that of the Soongs.

  While the wives of both Soong and Chen say they dislike their husbands' devotion to politics, Wu's opinions on the subject are even more frank.

  Wu herself has also played an even more hard-line role than Soong's wife, despite a physical handicap that confines her to a wheelchair.

  Wu was paralyzed after being run over in 1985 in what many suspect was a politically-motivated assassination attempt.

  "Being a politician's wife is the most difficult job on the planet. I would recommend that all women should never allow their husbands to take part in politics. It's just like a drug abuser -- once he starts, he'll never stop," Wu said on Jan. 31.

  "A-bian [Chen's well-known diminutive] always gives me different reasons when he needs to join a campaign and he has already signed piles of guarantees for me. I don't know when he will really come back to me.''

  With the presidential election fast approaching, Wu said as each day passes, she feels less pain. No matter whether her husband won or lost, "I will get some benefit," she said.

  "If he wins, our labor during all these days will have been worth it; if he loses, I can get my husband back,'' Wu said.

  In spite of her scorn for politics, she is still someone willing to give Chen extra impetus to overcome obstacles to his political career.

  "Twenty years ago, it was Wu that persuaded Chen to accept the appointment as lawyer for two of the defendants in the Kaohsiung Incident and that marked the beginning of Chen's political pursuits," said Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉), the DPP's spokesperson and a top aide to Chen.

  "Wu is the master of the family, while at the same time, Chen has also relied on her instincts to help him make significant decisions," Luo said.
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