Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian said yesterday his ruling Democratic Progressive Party was still holding together despite its drubbing in Saturday's legislative elections and the party should not lose hope of winning the presidential election in March.
During a 90-minute refuelling stopover at Anchorage airport in Alaska, Mr Chen told American Institute in Taiwan chairman Raymond Burghardt that nobody could be sure whether the weekend result would affect the presidential election on March 22.
'The DPP hasn't been crushed by the defeat,' said Mr Chen, who is on a five-day visit to Central America and the Caribbean.
'Who will emerge as the final winner from the presidential election is still up in the air ... as long as we maintain morale,' he said.
The two elections were very different, Mr Chen said.
The legislative elections had been almost entirely local and there had been virtually no discussion of national issues such as Taiwanese identity and cross-strait relations.