FORMER Judicial Yuan president Lin Yang-kang says cross-strait relations will 'immediately change for the better' if he and ex-premier Hau Pei-tsun win Taiwan's first direct presidential election in March.
Mr Lin made the comment yesterday after Mr Hau formally accepted his invitation to be his vice-presidential running mate.
Taiwan-born Mr Lin, 68, and mainland-born Mr Hau, 76, are vice-chairmen of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), but head the conservative 'non-mainstream' opposition to KMT chairman and President Lee Teng-hui.
The pair were speaking at a conference in Taipei's Ambassador Hotel, packed with boisterous supporters and members of the KMT old guard, including Chiang Wei-kuo, the son of the late KMT strongman Chiang Kai-shek.
But the festivities were marred by violence when angry Lin supporters pushed pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lim Jo-tsui out of the hall.
Another shoving match occurred when the opposition party's Chiang Peng-chien tried to hand Mr Hau a challenge to a public debate on independence as the retired general left.
Earlier, Mr Lin said he had decided to run against Mr Lee because Taiwan was at 'a life-or-death juncture'.