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19/03/2004
Taiwanese President and running mate shot on eve of elections
The Taiwan President and Vice-President have been shot just hours before the country was due to go to the polls.
President Chen Shui-bain was wounded in the stomach and his running mate Vice-President Annette Hsiu-lien Lu was hit in the right knee when a number of shots were fired at their motorcade as it passed through the southern city of Tainan.
Both received medical treatment but were later released from Tainan's Cimei Hospital.
Mr Chen said that the elections on Saturday would proceed as planned but both the government and opposition parties suspended their election campaigns and cancelled rallies set to take place on Friday evening.
In a statement issued by the government, the President and Vice-President urged citizens to remain calm. Secretary-General Chiou confirmed that a meeting of the National Security Council had been called and that "national security mechanisms have been activated".
The opposition party's presidential candidate Lien Chan and his running mate James Soong have been notified of the incident.
It is understood that both President Chen and Vice-President Lu have returned to their residences to recuperate.
Earlier reports had indicated that a firecracker had injured the President, but Taiwanese officials said later that a bullet had been removed from Mr Chen's stomach.
(SP)
President Chen Shui-bain was wounded in the stomach and his running mate Vice-President Annette Hsiu-lien Lu was hit in the right knee when a number of shots were fired at their motorcade as it passed through the southern city of Tainan.
Both received medical treatment but were later released from Tainan's Cimei Hospital.
Mr Chen said that the elections on Saturday would proceed as planned but both the government and opposition parties suspended their election campaigns and cancelled rallies set to take place on Friday evening.
In a statement issued by the government, the President and Vice-President urged citizens to remain calm. Secretary-General Chiou confirmed that a meeting of the National Security Council had been called and that "national security mechanisms have been activated".
The opposition party's presidential candidate Lien Chan and his running mate James Soong have been notified of the incident.
It is understood that both President Chen and Vice-President Lu have returned to their residences to recuperate.
Earlier reports had indicated that a firecracker had injured the President, but Taiwanese officials said later that a bullet had been removed from Mr Chen's stomach.
(SP)
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