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"Pay close attention to that man behind the curtain!"

Friday, March 19, 2004

Assassination attempt on Taiwan's president, vice-president

With an election and the country's first referendum literally just over the horizon, President Chen Shui-bian and VP Annette Lu were both shot while campaigning in the southern city of Tainan this afternoon.

President Chen was shot in the stomach and Vice-President Lu was shot in the right knee ("grazed" according to breaking news on CNN), according to a report on CBSNEWS.com.

Throngs of reporters, as well as supporters of Chen and Lu, have gathered outside the Chi Mei Hospital where the pair was taken for treatment. While supporters are singing the campaign anthem "Xiang Xin Taiwan" ("Have Faith in Taiwan"), some idiotic reporters on local television are even telling viewers on which floor of the hospital the injured president and vice-president are staying. (Source: my own eyes and ears while flipping the channels between TVBS, ETTV, CTI, and FTV.) While international media has already reported that "the bullet has been found," the local media is frantically debating whether or not the sounds were "merely firecrackers" being lit in a celebratory fashion along the route of the motorcade while simultaneously showing the bullethole in the windshield of the vehicle in which Chen and Lu were riding.

Suspects? In my opinion, it would first and foremost be operatives of the opposition. My next guess would be operatives from Beijing. Thirdly, I'd suspect supporters of the opposition. Opposition presidential candidate Lien Chan was on television just a few minutes ago expressing his "concern" for Chen, all the while with a big smile on his face.

Luckily, the injuries to the president and vice-president don't appear to be life-threatening, and if anything, I hope this ensures a victory for Chen and Lu over the opposition Lien-Soong ticket in tomorrow's election as the Chinese missile "tests" in 1996 did for former president and current Chen supporter Lee Teng-hui.

Please support Taiwan, and don't believe the lies. Taiwan is NOT a province of China.
Posted at 4:37 PM by: [Permalink]
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