Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Opposition KMT wins Taiwan election
By Kathrin Hille in Taipei
Published: March 23 2008, FT
Taiwan’s voters gave a resounding victory to Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang party in the island’s presidential election, raising hopes of a reduction in tensions with China.
Mr Ma gained 58.45 per cent of the vote. Frank Hsieh from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party won 41.55 per cent.
Mr Ma campaigned on a platform of dialogue with Beijing and closer economic links with China, which regards the self-governing island as a renegade province and has threatened to invade if it moves towards formal independence.
The clear result gives Mr Ma a strong mandate to prioritise economic development over Taiwanese nationalism, and is expected to trigger a rally in the Taiwan stock market on Monday. Investors have been buying Taiwan stocks ahead of the election, betting on a KMT victory over the incumbent Demoractic Progressive party.
However, Mr Ma made clear that unification with China is not on his agenda and that he sees it as his responsibility to safeguard Taiwan’s status quo.
Asked how he interpreted the mandate voters had given him, Mr Ma said: “It clearly says that Taiwan should be more open, more pragmatic and should not isolate itself. But it also says that Taiwan should be united.” Mr Ma’s victory follows a landslide KMT victory in legislative elections in January which gave the party a majority of more than two-thirds in parliament.
Chen Shui-bian, the outgoing DPP president, had increasingly focused on strengthening pro-independence identity in Taiwan after initial attempts at a rapprochement with China were frustrated by Beijing’s refusal to engage.
THe KMT's legislative and presidential victories mark a strong comeback for the party, which lost power in 2000 after ruling Taiwan for over 50 years after nationalist forces fled China in 1949 following defeat by Communist troops in the Chinese civil war.
The president-elect said he would work towards direct passenger aviation links with China as the first step in seeking rapprochement with the mainland when he is inaugurated in May.
Addressing a crowd of thousands of rejoicing supporters in front of his campaign headquarters, Mr Ma called the election a celebration of Taiwan’s core values of freedom and democracy, and pointed to the island’s role as the only democracy in the Chinese-speaking world.
The result of the election marks the third clear electoral defeat in in three years for the DPP. Observers said voters had used the ballot to condemn the ruling party for its weak legislative record and allegations of corruption.
“There’s only one comment to make about our eight years in power: We have failed in government,” said Chuang Suo-hang, a former DPP lawmaker who lost his seat in January.
The island also voted in two referendums on whether Taiwan should seek to join the United Nations. China has denounced the referendums as a “move towards independence.” The US, Taiwan’s sole protector against the threat from China, said they were an unnecessary and provocative step.
The two plebiscites were proposed by the DPP and the KMT respectively, and differed only in the name suggested for UN membership. They were both approved by more than 80 per cent of votes cast but failed to pass because they did not meet the required threshold of 50 per cent voter turnout.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said the results showed that Taiwan independence did not have the support of the people.
Published: March 23 2008, FT
Taiwan’s voters gave a resounding victory to Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang party in the island’s presidential election, raising hopes of a reduction in tensions with China.
Mr Ma gained 58.45 per cent of the vote. Frank Hsieh from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party won 41.55 per cent.
Mr Ma campaigned on a platform of dialogue with Beijing and closer economic links with China, which regards the self-governing island as a renegade province and has threatened to invade if it moves towards formal independence.
The clear result gives Mr Ma a strong mandate to prioritise economic development over Taiwanese nationalism, and is expected to trigger a rally in the Taiwan stock market on Monday. Investors have been buying Taiwan stocks ahead of the election, betting on a KMT victory over the incumbent Demoractic Progressive party.
However, Mr Ma made clear that unification with China is not on his agenda and that he sees it as his responsibility to safeguard Taiwan’s status quo.
Asked how he interpreted the mandate voters had given him, Mr Ma said: “It clearly says that Taiwan should be more open, more pragmatic and should not isolate itself. But it also says that Taiwan should be united.” Mr Ma’s victory follows a landslide KMT victory in legislative elections in January which gave the party a majority of more than two-thirds in parliament.
Chen Shui-bian, the outgoing DPP president, had increasingly focused on strengthening pro-independence identity in Taiwan after initial attempts at a rapprochement with China were frustrated by Beijing’s refusal to engage.
THe KMT's legislative and presidential victories mark a strong comeback for the party, which lost power in 2000 after ruling Taiwan for over 50 years after nationalist forces fled China in 1949 following defeat by Communist troops in the Chinese civil war.
The president-elect said he would work towards direct passenger aviation links with China as the first step in seeking rapprochement with the mainland when he is inaugurated in May.
Addressing a crowd of thousands of rejoicing supporters in front of his campaign headquarters, Mr Ma called the election a celebration of Taiwan’s core values of freedom and democracy, and pointed to the island’s role as the only democracy in the Chinese-speaking world.
The result of the election marks the third clear electoral defeat in in three years for the DPP. Observers said voters had used the ballot to condemn the ruling party for its weak legislative record and allegations of corruption.
“There’s only one comment to make about our eight years in power: We have failed in government,” said Chuang Suo-hang, a former DPP lawmaker who lost his seat in January.
The island also voted in two referendums on whether Taiwan should seek to join the United Nations. China has denounced the referendums as a “move towards independence.” The US, Taiwan’s sole protector against the threat from China, said they were an unnecessary and provocative step.
The two plebiscites were proposed by the DPP and the KMT respectively, and differed only in the name suggested for UN membership. They were both approved by more than 80 per cent of votes cast but failed to pass because they did not meet the required threshold of 50 per cent voter turnout.
China’s state-run Xinhua news agency said the results showed that Taiwan independence did not have the support of the people.
Labels: Taiwan
¶ 7:45 PM
