By the way, he, too, is under indictment for criminal negligence in his handling of city contracts. And the mayor of Kaohsiung , Taiwan's second largest city, who is also the chairman of the DPP, will have a hard time getting re-elected. So, it's not as if the DPP has developed a reputation for solid leadership at the local level. Still, this past week gave the DPP some cause for optimism. But locally, bank mergers seem on track, and semiconductor revenues continue to grow at record levels.
Inflation is still modest, and foreign procurement is still strong.
Compaq Computer Corp.'s retail sales may be softening, but its answer was to buy more, not less, from Taiwan. So, the economic news this week was pretty reassuring for President Chen's administration, and there are only 46 more weeks left in the campaign.