www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/19/taiwan.chen/index.htmlTaiwan's President Chen shot
Friday, March 19, 2004 Posted: 3:33 AM EST (0833 GMT)
Chen, seen here with Lu, has been campaigning for a second term in office.
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TAIPEI, Taiwan (CNN) -- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu have been rushed to hospital after being shot while campaigning for Saturday's election, the Presidential Office says.
Chen was shot in the stomach at 1:45 p.m. (0545 GMT) Friday but his condition was not critical, his office said.
The office said both Chen and Lu were in a stable condition and that the president had urged for calm.
"They did not suffer life-threatening injuries. They urge the public to cool down," Chiou I-jen, secretary-general in the Presidential Office, said at a news conference.
Reports said Lu had been shot in the knee.
Chiou I-jen said weekend elections would go on as planned, but the ruling Democratic People's Party had temporarily suspended its election campaign.
Chen and Lu had been sitting in the back of a convertible four-wheel drive vehicle in the president's hometown of Tainan when an unknown attacker or attackers opened fire.
Presidential spokesman James Huang told CNN nobody heard any gunshots or initially realised the duo had been wounded because of the noise of firecrackers exploding as the motorcade drove down Tainan's streets.
Firecrackers are a feature of the campaign trail in Tawain, leading to initial reports saying Chen had been injured by an exploding firecracker.
"We were shocked and we didn't anticipate this type of event occurring only 24 hours before the election," Huang told CNN.
