Taiwan President And VP Shot

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu were both shot and wounded Friday while campaigning on the last day before the presidential election.

"They did not suffer life-threatening injuries. They urge the public to cool down," said Chiou I-jen, secretary-general in the Presidential Office, at a news conference held after about an hour of rumors sweeping through Taiwan on what had happened.

Chiou said the president was shot in the stomach, and the vice president was hit in the right knee as their motorcade made its way through the streets of the southern city of Tainan.

That is Chen's hometown, and as doctors treated the president and vice president, a large crowd gathered outside the hospital to show their support. Using Chen's nickname, the crowd chanted, "A-bian, get elected," as they pumped their arms in the air. Some waved green flags, the color of Chen's Democratic Progressive Party.

A government official says the election will go forward on Saturday as originally planned, despite the shooting.

When reporters told opposition candidate Lien Chan about the attack, he simply said, "I hope it's not serious."

About five hours after the shooting, the president left the hospital to return to the capital, Taipei. He did not comment to reporters as he got into a sport utility vehicle and drove the airport to board the presidential plane.

Lien's Nationalist Party decided to suspend its campaign activities, said Justin Chou, a party spokesman. Both candidates had planned to stage massive rallies in the capital, Taipei.

Chen's party has not decided whether to cancel its own rally.

As Chen's red convertible sat outside the hospital where he and Lu were taken, local media ran a variety of reports, some saying there was a shooting, and others saying it might have been an accident related to celebratory fireworks which are traditionally ignited as the presidential motorcade rolls by.

"It was definitely a gun attack," Chiou said, adding that officials found one bullet.

"The vice president first felt pain in her knee and she thought it was caused by firecrackers," Chiou said. "Then the president felt some wetness on his stomach area, and then they realized something was wrong."

A government official says now that both Chen and Lu are conscious and in stable condition.

Earlier, a lawmaker who was in a car behind Chen's in the campaign motorcade gave his eyewitness account and said he was sure, because of the severity of the wound, that it was caused by gunfire.

"I was traveling in the vehicle behind the president when I suddenly saw his car accelerating," said Wang Hsing-nan, a member of Chen's Democratic Progressive Party.

Wang, interviewed on TVBS cable news, says "the president suffered a deep wound about three centimeters (1.2 inches) deep in the stomach."

An unidentified party official who was traveling with the president said both Chen and Lu were able to walk into the emergency room.

The shooting happened in the final hours of what has been at times a bitterly fought election campaign.

Voters will be choosing between Chen and opposition leader Lien, who is pledging that he would take a softer approach with the island's biggest rival: China.

China is traditionally a major issue in Taiwanese elections. The two sides split when the Communists took over the mainland in 1949, and Beijing is pressuring Taiwan to unify.

Lien and Chen agree on most basic issues involving China policy. Neither candidate favors immediate unification, and both are highly distrustful of the Communist leadership.

However, Chen has been more aggressive in pushing for a Taiwanese identity separate from China's, and this has raised tensions with Beijing. China has threatened to attack if Taiwan seeks a permanent split.

Chen also plans an unprecedented island-wide referendum on the day of the election.

Voters will be asked whether Taiwan should beef up its defenses to protect against hundreds of Chinese missiles pointed at the island.

China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and insists the two should be unified, has criticized the referendum, fearing it could lead to a future vote on Taiwanese independence.