After admitting yesterday he was once an advisor to DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian (3?糮?, Chang Chao-hsiung (張昭雄) -- the running mate of KMT maverick presidential candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) -- said he was neither a pawn of Soong nor a betrayer of the DPP.
"I support Soong because we have the same view of Taiwan's future," said Chang, "We both agree with President Lee Teng-hui's (
"I hope that we [he and Soong] have the opportunity to meet Lee and if we win the presidential election next March, it could prove that people have accepted Soong's platform, which is to build a new government which is non-partisan and cross ethnic," Chang said.
The surgeon and administrator began his first day of politics yesterday, doing interviews with the media and expressing confidence that his experience and skills were relevant and of benefit.
Chang stressed that he still appreciated Chen as an outstanding Taiwanese and also praised President Lee.
Chang's father-in-law, Lee Chi-ying (
"I think he was afraid of being opposed by us," Lee said. His wife said they had both campaigned for Chen Shui-bian in the last decade.
"We may help our son-in-law owing to family ties, yet I will persist in voting secretly with my original decision," said Lee.
Meanwhile, Soong said he hoped that Chang could take responsibility for social welfare policy and lead a team that would write Soong's key China policy.
"Chang is a professional and has dedicated himself to the science and technology fields, he is also good at administration. Moreover, he devoted his life to being a doctor, which should inform people of our principles, which are of crossing party lines and are inclusive of all ethnic groups in Taiwan," Soong said.
"These abilities of Chang's are necessary for him to be an excellent politician."
Soong campaign staff were satisfied with the result of a public poll by a TV company, after Chang was announced as Soong's running mate, and revealed Soong led in the poll and his support rate was increasing.
But DPP leaders said Chang was not representative of all medical people and was unlikely to attract many more voter groups to Soong.
Chen Chi-mai (
"It is a fact that Soong is from the mainland but Chang is Taiwanese. Chang is from a prominent family from southern Taiwan, while Soong lives in northern Taiwan," Chen said.
But Chen added: "After campaigning for a while Chang will face many problems in cooperating with Soong."
A date for Chen Shui-bian to publicize his running mate has not been fixed, but his campaign staff members confirmed that Taoyuan County commissioner Annette Lu (
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
UNDER ATTACK: Raymond Greene said there were 412 billion malicious threats in the Asia-Pacific region in the first half of 2023, with 55 percent targeting Taiwan Taiwan not only faces military intimidation from China, but is also on the front line of global cybersecurity threats, and it is taking action to counter those attacks, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Speaking at the opening of this year’s Cybersec Expo in Taipei, the president assured foreign diplomats and exhibitors that Taiwan remained committed to strengthening its defense against cyberattacks and enhancing the resilience of its digital infrastructure. Lai referenced a report from the National Security Bureau (NSB) indicating that the Government Service Network faced an average of 2.4 million intrusion attempts daily last year, more than double the figure
Retired US general Robert B. Abrams reportedly served as adviser to Chief of the General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) during the Ministry of National Defense’s computer-simulated war games in the buildup to this year’s 41st annual Han Kuang military exercises, local media reported yesterday. For 14 days and 13 nights starting on April 5 and ending yesterday, the armed forces conducted the computer-simulated war games component of the Han Kuang exercises, utilizing the joint theater-level simulation system (JTLS). Using the JTLS, the exercise simulated a continuous 24-hour confrontation based on scenarios such as “gray zone” incursions and the Chinese People’s Liberation
RSS