[Michael Holmes, World News:] Weeks away from Taiwan's presidential inauguration, it is not exactly smooth sailing for the island's new leaders. CNN's Mike Chinoy reports on a new attack from a familiar source.
[Mike Chinoy, Cnn Correspondent:] He doesn't take office until late May, but Taiwan's president-elect, Chen Shui-bian, is already facing his first political storm as China has ended a period of relative restraint and launched a vicious verbal assault on his running mate, vice president-elect Annette Lu. "A lunatic," "scum of the Chinese nation" and "the disgraceful face of Taiwan independence" are only some of the insults coming from Beijing. The source of China's anger, a series of blunt statements by Vice President-Elect Lu, long an outspoken supporter of independence for Taiwan.
[Annette Lu, Taiwanvice Pres.-elect:] They want us to accept reunification, but 90 percent of Taiwanese would oppose it. That's just a fact. Twenty-first-century leaders shouldn't have to follow 18th century concepts. Look at Europe. Countries there split up all the time. China's not happy that we are seeking to join the United Nations, but we are going to keep trying anyway.
[Chinoy:] For Chen Shui-bian, who has toned down his own once-strong backing for independence in the hope of improving ties with Beijing, the vice president-elect's outspoken remarks have created a major headache.
[Andrew Yang, Taipei Inst. Of Strategic Studies:] This is a very delicate situation. He's repeatedly saying that he has to be cautious. Therefore, anytime those remarks over the Taiwan's position as well as the cross-strait relations certainly are counterproductive to Chen Shui- bian's position.
[Chinoy:] On the streets, few people here seem to take China's bluster seriously. What worries them more, though, is whether the incoming president can control his closest aides.
[Chu Yun-han, National Taiwan University:] People expect that not the president-elect himself, but also all his important aides and especially his vice president will follow the same line.
[Chinoy:] Chen Shui-bian insists he still wants to reach out to mainland China, but with Beijing calling his vice president "a lunatic whose views will lead Taiwan to catastrophe," finding common ground across the Taiwan Strait isn't going to be easy. Mike Chinoy, CNN, Taipei.