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Metropolis Reality Forums « Taiwan's president survives shooting »

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Rhune
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29289456 29289456   rhune_1971   Rhune1971
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Taiwan's president survives shooting
« on: Mar 19th, 2004, 11:49am »		 Quote Quote Modify Modify
Chen back in Taipei after shooting
Friday, March 19, 2004 Posted: 9:29 AM EST (1429 GMT)  
 

Blood from Chen's bullet wound can be seen in television footage.
 
TAIPEI, Taiwan (CNN) -- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has arrived back in Taipei after surviving an apparent assassination attempt in the southern city of Tainan.
 
Chen was released from hospital Friday after being shot and wounded while campaigning for Saturday's national election.
 
Chen's running mate, Vice President Annette Lu, was also treated for a gun wound and later discharged from hospital.
 
"Both the president and vice president have just checked out," a spokeswoman at the Chi Mei hospital in the southern city of Tainan, Chen's hometown, told Reuters.  
 
No arrests were reported and it was not clear who fired on Chen and Lu.
 
Chen was shot in the stomach at 1:45 p.m. (0545 GMT), the Presidential Office said. Lu's leg was grazed by a bullet.
 
The office said both Chen and Lu had called for calm after the shooting.
 
"They did not suffer life-threatening injuries. They urge the public to cool down," Chiou I-jen, secretary-general in the Presidential Office, told a news conference.
 
Chiou said the elections would go on as planned, but the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and opposition Kuomintang party had both temporarily suspended their election campaigns.
 
Chen and Lu had been riding in the back of a convertible four-wheel drive vehicle in Tainan when an unknown attacker or attackers opened fire.
 
The crowd was cheering as Chen and Lu waved from the back of their vehicle, and fireworks were being set off along the route as the candidates passed.  
 
Presidential spokesman James Huang told CNN nobody heard any gunshots or initially realized the leaders had been wounded because of the noise from the firecrackers. No arrests have yet been made.
 
Video from the parade showed a bullet hole in the windshield of the vehicle. Blood can be seen on the president's jacket as someone holds a cloth to the bullet wound on the right side of his waist.  
 
Doctors at the Chi Mei hospital displayed a picture of a wound cutting across the front Chen's belly that was about four inches (11 cms) long and just under an inch (2 cms) deep and wide. Another picture showed a doctor holding the bullet slug in his palm.  

 
"We were shocked and we didn't anticipate this type of event occurring only 24 hours before the election," Huang told CNN.
 
"I guess most people in Taiwan are shocked and they are very concerned about the security of their president and vice president."
 
Huang said Taiwan's armed forces had been placed on high alert and the National Security Council held an emergency meeting.
 
Opposition presidential candidate Lien Chan condemned the shooting and extended his best wishes.
 
"We are all shocked by the incident ... We all condemn this act of violence. On the other hand, we wish them a quick recovery," he said.
 
Chen has been campaigning for a second term after four years in office.
 
Along with the presidential election, a controversial referendum that China considers a harbinger for a vote on the island's independence will be held Saturday.
 
The referendum will ask voters to consider if China should reduce its military threat against the island.  
 
Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.  
 
Chen has ignored warnings from Washington and Beijing not to take any steps that could fuel tensions with China.  
 
Chen and his pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party swept to power in 2000, ousting the Nationalist Party, which ruled the island for five decades and opposes Taiwan independence.
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Re: Taiwan's president survives shooting
« Reply #1 on: Mar 27th, 2004, 9:14am »		 Quote Quote Modify Modify
500,000 protest Taiwan election results
 
Demonstrators demand presidential vote recount
The Associated Press
 
TAIPEI, Taiwan - A half million Taiwanese swarmed into the island’s capital on Saturday to protest the disputed presidential election, while rival China hinted it wouldn’t let the turmoil drag on indefinitely.
 
The demonstrators — many bused in from other cities — put on yellow rain ponchos to protect them from a cold drizzle and filled up the wide boulevard in front of the Presidential Office. They chanted and listened to fiery speeches bashing President Chen Shui-bian.
 
The rally’s start was peaceful — a contrast from the day before when about 2,000 people stormed the Central Election Commission headquarters in Taipei. The mob broke glass windows and scuffled with police in an unsuccessful attempt to delay the formal certification of the election’s results.
 
Recount demanded
Protesters are demanding a recount of the March 20 presidential vote, which Chen won by a tiny margin. Opposition candidate Lien Chan claims the election was marred by irregularities, which have yet to be documented.
 
Chen’s opponents also want an independent investigation into the bizarre election-eve shooting that wounded the president and the vice president, which many believe resulted in sympathy votes.
 
Protesters who believe conspiracy theories that Chen staged the shooting carried signs that said, “Democracy shot in the stomach” and “Shooting tricks shall be revealed.”
 
Police estimated that about 500,000 people turned out for the demonstration.
 
“If it were a fair election, we could have accepted the result even if someone only won by one vote,” said July Wu, a 36-year-old teacher.
 
Chen was officially declared the victor by the Election Commission on Friday, drawing congratulations from the United States that was condemned by China.
 
“We congratulate Mr. Chen on his victory,” White House press secretary Scott McClellan said, while recognizing the pending legal challenges of the results.
 
Admonition from China
China expressed displeasure Saturday over Washington’s message, saying it was “incorrect act” that undermined its commitment to Beijing’s one-China policy. China still claims the island as its territory although the two sides split during civil war in 1949.
 
The admonition came one day after Beijing said it wouldn’t “look on unconcerned” if the social turmoil in Taiwan continued. China didn’t say what it might do, and it wasn’t clear whether the comments were more than a ritual declaration of the mainland’s rights over the island. Beijing previously has threatened to take over the island if it ever descends into chaos.
 
Taiwan snapped back that the statement was “rude” and “unreasonable.” The government warned China against meddling in Taiwan’s affairs.
 
The president, who campaigned on a platform of standing up to China, has agreed to a vote recount, but lawmakers disagree about how to amend election laws to accommodate it.
 
Lien, who pushes a more conciliatory line toward Beijing, has claimed that the shooting that lightly wounded Chen and Vice President Annette Lu affected the election and needs to be explained.
 
Police haven’t made any arrests, but on Friday they released photos of an unidentified man hurrying away from the shooting scene. They asked the public to help identify the man, filmed by a security camera.
 
The president’s Democratic Progressive Party, meanwhile, urged supporters to stay away from the rally and refrain from wearing hats or clothing with the party’s logo.
 
Chartered buses from cities in southern Taiwan began rumbling into the capital Saturday morning, disgorging hordes of protesters who said Friday’s violence didn’t scare them away.
 
“That was a small minority of overexcited people. We still know our demands are reasonable, so we still have to persist and stay here,” said Colin Wu, 38, an insurance salesman.
 
Some protesters held up pictures of Chen and the vice president as others beat the images with umbrellas.
 
The brown-brick Presidential Office was ringed by police buses, while streets leading to key government buildings and to the ruling party headquarters were barricaded.
 
At the tall marble Nationalist Party headquarters facing the Presidential Office, protesters were picking up white balloons with the word “Recount.”
 
The Taipei city government requested that the protest end by Saturday evening, but organizers were vague about whether they would comply.
 
“If the protesters don’t feel any goodwill from the president and feel they have to stay, wouldn’t we be a heartless party if we withdrew all the portable toilets?” spokesman Alex Tsai said.
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