March 19, 2004
By Victor Mallet and Kathrin Hille in Taipei
Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's president, survived an apparent assassination attempt on Friday on the eve of Saturday's fiercely contested presidential election.
Mr Chen and Annette Lu, his deputy, were both shot and injured at 1.45pm - probably by the same bullet - while campaigning in an open vehicle in the southern city of Tainan. It was the first assassination attempt on the island since martial law was lifted in 1987.
"Don't worry about me," Mr Chen said in a brief televised address after being released from hospital and returning to the capital Taipei. "There's no problem with Taiwan's national security."
Within hours of the incident, Mr Chen's political rivals suggested the shooting might have been staged and medical records falsified - accusations angrily dismissed by Mr Chen's Democratic Progressive party.
Mr Chen and Lien Chan, his Kuomintang (KMT) rival, were neck and neck in the latest opinion polls. Sympathy for Mr Chen could tip the balance in his favour on Saturday.
Thousands of Mr Chen's supporters marched in the streets of Taipei on Friday night calling for his re-election after he and Mr Lien both cancelled mass rallies. The DPP called on supporters to remain calm and refrain from confrontations with the KMT. Mr Lien paid a courtesy visit to Mr Chen and said he was "very, very shocked" by the incident.
Police in Tainan said they believed at least two bullets were fired at the president. His aides said they were unaware of the shooting at the time because of the noise of fireworks set off by Mr Chen's supporters.
Doctors gave Mr Chen 14 stitches for a long wound where a bullet raked his abdomen, while Ms Lu was treated for a slight injury to her right knee. The bullet was found in his clothing during an X-ray, the doctors said.
Mr Chen was elected in 2000 as the first president of Taiwan not to come from the KMT, the nationalist party of the late Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.
He and the DPP have strongly asserted Taiwan's separate identity from mainland China and moved the island closer to independence. Mr Chen's policies have prompted warnings from China, which claims the island and has threatened to invade if independence is formally declared. Mr Lien and the KMT, on the other hand, have emphasised the importance of improving relations with Beijing and establishing transport links to the mainland.
On Friday, Beijing appeared unsure how to respond to the attack. The Chinese Communist party views Mr Chen and Ms Lu with deep distrust, but has refrained from criticising them strongly in recent weeks for fear of being seen to interfere in the election campaign.
Hours after the shooting, Chinese state media continued to make no mention of it. Officials ordered leading online websites not to carry the news, while officials of the cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office refused to answer their phones and the foreign ministry declined to comment.
Mr Chen has called a controversial referendum on boosting the island's defences, setting the vote for Saturday alongside the poll. The step has enraged Beijing, which sees the move as a harbinger of steps towards independence.
Police in Tainan offered a NT$3m (US$ 90,000) reward for information.
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