On the Taiwanese attempted double magnicide:
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Originally Posted by Chen was rushed to hospital in Tainan, his home town, where he received 14 stitches in an 11-cm (five-inch) long, three-cm (one-inch) deep wound. Television reports said the 54-year-old president was able to walk into the hospital for treatment. Lu, 59, was hit in the right leg and had to be assisted into the building but her condition was not serious, officials said. "The shooters probably were in the crowd because the wound to the president was on an upward trajectory," an official said. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
Impact on elections unlcear:
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Originally Posted by Analysts said most voters had already made their choice based on policy and were unlikely to be swayed by emotion now. Chen aggressively advocates independence from China while Lien favors a conciliatory approach to the island's giant foe. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
We could be in for a surprise, look at Spain’s elections after the terrorist attack. Though this incident in no way compares to the train attacks in Madrid, the pedestrian reaction has been strong:
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Originally Posted by In the capital on Friday night, thousands of Chen supporters gathered outside DPP headquarters, singing campaign songs and chanting: "Elect A-bian" -- the president's popular nickname. Police put the turnout at 4,000-5,000. "We feel very proud, because our own president, our leader, asked his own supporters to be calm despite what had happened," said teacher Liao Wen-bo, 61. "We are going to use our votes as our bullets tomorrow." <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
On the gamble:
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Originally Posted by Underground bookies had been offering even money on a Lien victory by a margin of 850,000 votes while on Chen they were offering odds of 1.15-1 for a win by any margin. "Maybe this will narrow down the margin, but I doubt it will be enough to get him re-elected," said George Tsai, analyst at the Institute of International Relations in Taipei. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
The PRC:
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Originally Posted by Chen has called a controversial referendum on boosting the island's defenses, setting the vote for Saturday alongside the presidential poll. The step has enraged Beijing, which sees the move as a harbinger of steps toward independence. Beijing views the referendum as a dry run for a vote on Taiwan independence that it says could lead to war. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/38664...48|reuters.html
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Originally Posted by Taiwan has accused Beijing of intimidation, after China opted to stage rare naval drills with France in the run-up to Taiwan's elections. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3512088.stm
France shouldn’t be involved here at all, they probably are looking to improve commercial ties and think this is the best way.
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Originally Posted by France is also lobbying EU countries to drop the 15-year-old embargo on arms sales to China, imposed after the brutal 1989 suppression of pro-democracy demonstrators, the Financial Times said. On the diplomatic front, France angered Taiwan recently by strongly condemning President Chen Shui-bian's plan to hold a referendum on missile defense as part of this coming Saturday's election, prompting Taipei to suspend top-level ties with Paris. <hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
If the elections give Chen and his defense proposition a victory, and the PRC sees this as a “dry-run” before the independence referéndum, would they attack when this gets announced? Maybe the US Navy can spare an aircraft carrier to show the flag for their longstanding ally?