Scholars urge President Chen to step down

I saw this news on TV this morning, here is the latest news about Taiwanese president will quit.

2006/9/16The China Post staff

Some pro-government scholars yesterday urged President Chen Shui-bian to step down, and the opposing camps to exercise self-restraint when holding massive rallies.

With the ruling party mobilizing its supporters to confront the anti-Chen camp, it means that Chen's previous apologies were faked, said Prof. Chen Fang-ming, dean of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at National Chengchi University.

He said if Chen stays on as president, it will create more trouble, plunging the nation into instability.

He was speaking on behalf of group of academics holding a press conference to call for calm between the opposing camps. These academics are commonly considered supporters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

Political leaders have the responsibility to open a dialogue with their opponents and should show respect for other people's civic rights, said the dean.

The pro-Chen and anti-Chen forces are set to confront each other in a showdown over the next two days, pushing Taiwan's society into a new phase of uncertainty.

The anti-Chen camp, led by former DPP Chairman Shih Ming-the, saw tens of thousands of supporters parade in the neighborhood of the presidential building last night after staging a round-the-clock sit-in for a week on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the presidential building.
The pro-Chen side will hold a massive rally on the boulevard today, while the Shih camp is expected to retreat to the Taipei Railway Station nearby.

Prof. Chen said he was worried by rumors that President Chen might join his supporters' rally today.

When the president forfeits his choice to be president for all the people and instead chooses to be president only for his supporters, he has forsaken the basic principles of democratic politics, Prof. Chen said.

He also called for DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun to "watch his language and rhetoric" after the party chief described the anti-president drive as a conflict between the DPP and the opposition, and a conflict between Taiwan and China.

Prof. Chen urged Yu not to use provocative language to widen rifts within Taiwan's society, saying political leaders engage themselves in dialogue with opponents and trim differences rationally.

Prof. Lee Ting-tsan from National Tsinghua University said at the press conference that both sides should focus on their causes -- namely whether they are right or wrong -- rather than on winning or losing.

Huang Chang-ling, an associate professor with National Taiwan University, said the demonstrations by both sides are both activities based on civic rights.

Supporters of both sides should respect the civic rights of their opponents and should refrain from calling opponents "stupid" or considering the other camp's activities "malicious," Huang said.

Wu Nai-teh, an Academia Sinica researcher, said both sides should learn to understand each other.

While the DPP administration is in control of much of the country's resources, the ruling party should bear the greatest responsibility if any bloodshed or conflicts occur during the showdown, Wu asserted.