Gere offers his view on Taiwan

Gere offers his view on Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan: Richard Gere is weighing in on one of the biggest questions in Taiwan this year: Did the island's leader fake an assassination attempt to win sympathy votes?

In an interview that aired on Monday promoting his new movie, Gere told Taiwan's TVBS news that he didn't believe President Chen Shui-bian staged the shooting that grazed his stomach during a campaign parade on March 19 -- just one day before his narrow reelection.

"What I thought was kind of bizarre was that the opposition assumed that he had set it up, in some way had himself shot," Gere said, shaking his head with a slight laugh. "That doesn't sound right."

Chen's campaign challenger, Lien Chan of the Nationalist Party, has suggested that the shooting might have been faked. He has refused to accept the election's results until the event is thoroughly investigated.

Police have yet to arrest a suspect and haven't announced many solid leads.

The High Court is expected to rule next month on whether the election should be nullified because of the shooting and other allegations of irregularities.

Gere was promoting his latest film, Shall We Dance?, when he talked to TVBS in the United States. In the remake of a Japanese film, Gere is a businessman who takes dance lessons with a beautiful teacher, played by Jennifer Lopez. --AP