Taiwan chief, v.p. survive shootings

Editor's note: Deseret Morning News business writer Dave Anderton is one of six journalists participating in the Asia Pacific Journalism Fellowship program sponsored by the Hawaii-based East-West Center, the Singapore International Foundation and the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association of Taipei. Yu-Chieh Lo served as his translator for this article.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Polls opened today in a hotly contested election, hours after President Chen Shui-bian and his vice president were shot and slightly wounded in an assassination attempt as they waved to onlookers from an open vehicle during a last-minute campaign event.

The shooting unsettled Taiwan but didn't halt election precincts from opening at 8 a.m. today (5 p.m. MST Friday). Turnout appeared to be heavy.

Looking wan, Chen appeared in a televised videotape urging Taiwanese not to worry about his — or the island's — security in the aftermath of Friday's shooting in the southwestern city of Tainan.

"Thanks to the good care and treatment by the medical staff, I am now all right, so please set your minds at ease," the 54-year-old Chen said. "Our national security is ensured. Please stay at ease."

The attack on Chen at 1:45 p.m. in Tainan also injured Vice President Annette Lu, 59, who stood beside him in the back of a red open-top jeep as it toured Tainan in a campaign convoy. Lu was slightly wounded in the right leg.

Physicians attending Chen said they placed 14 stitches to close an inch-deep, nearly 5-inch-long grazing wound to his abdomen. Chen never lost consciousness.

Police made no arrests in the tumultuous scene after the attack. But they said they recovered two shell casings and believed two assailants may have been involved, firing handguns made in underground weapons factories.

Threatening messages were reported to have been received at Chen's political party headquarters prior to the shooting.

Massive political rallies scheduled for Friday evening and expected to have drawn hundreds of thousands of citizens were canceled by the two battling political parties. Yet hundreds of Chen supporters still took to the streets in downtown Taipei in support of the president.

Michael Ying-mao Kau, Taiwan's deputy minister of foreign affairs, told the Deseret Morning News that the stability of the country was the government's primary focus.

"Postponing the election would be a big sign of national emergency," Kau said. "As long as the candidates were not too badly hurt, my expectation is that the election would continue."