The two biggest losers in yesterday's election made appeals and offered excuses as the dust settled and Chen Shui-bian
Independent candidate Hsu Hsin-liang
Hsu held a post-election press conference to congratulate Chen and to call on the public to reunite after a divisive election campaign. The former chairman of the DPP, Hsu left the party to make his ill-fated bid for the presidency.
FILE PHOTO
Hsu said he sincerely accepted the voters' choice and appealed to Chen to ease cross-strait tensions and promote the public's confidence in Taiwan's economy.
Hsu did not say much about his future nor did he directly answer speculation that he might try to found a new party.
"I never felt frustrated and will keep going," he said.
FILE PHOTO
New Party vice-presidential candidate Elmer Feng (馮滬祥) also held a post-election press conference, in the absence of the party's presidential candidate Li Ao (李敖), to blame his party's loss on a rumor, saying President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) wanted to "Dump Lien to save Chen" (棄連保陳).
The New Party made an abysmal showing, eking out just 0.1 percent of the total, or 16,782 votes.
The convener of the New Party caucus, Hao Lung-bin (郝龍斌), said Chen's victory was mainly based on anti-China sentiment,along with Academic Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh's (李遠哲) powerful support for Chen and the divisions within the KMT.
Hao said threatening statements from Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基) triggered Taiwanese voters' negative emotions and pushed them towards Chen. However, Hao emphasized that "the [Taiwanese] anti-China complex doesn't mean that Taiwanese espouse independence."
Responding to general doubt about the New Party's future, Hao said the poor showing was not equal to the party's demise.
"Li and Feng's endeavors in the election campaign have reached the goal of promoting the New Party's propaganda," Hao said.
Li didn't even show up at the New Party's post-election press conference, saying he was not interested in the result and was happy that the election had finally come to an end. Although Li refused to join the party as a member, he stood as its candidate.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese
RSS