But Will He Run The Country?
This has become a hot topic in Taiwan because Ma is one of the island's most popular politicians, thanks to his movie star looks and squeaky clean image. What's more, he's a member of the Kuomintang Party (KMT), which ruled Taiwan for 51 years before being voted out of power two years back. The current thinking is that Ma could present a strong challenge to President Chen Shui-bian, possibly heralding the return of the KMT. That would be an epochal event for the island's nascent, ever-evolving democracy, signaling either a revival of the cash-rich party's hegemony or, at the least, the start of a two-party system. The mainland would certainly be watching: the KMT was its enemy for decades, but Beijing is even more suspicious of Chen's Democratic Progressive Party, which started out as a pro-independence group.
Ma, a youthful 52, is coy about his plans, and he's got some limbering up to do within his party before he can think of a run. KMT Chair-man Lien Chan stood for election in 2000 and did badly, scoring 23% of the vote, but he might run again. KMT defector James Soong also has presidential ambitions, and he nearly beat Chen in 2000 as a third-party candidate. If Soong runs, Ma's support would be split. "If there are two sets of can-didates," Ma tells TIME, "we will only repeat the defeat of two years ago." Is that the sound of the 2004 starting gun?
Most Popular »
- Israel vs. Hizballah: Drumbeats of War
- Iran's Opposition Loses a Mentor But Gains a Martyr
- The Pentagon Prepares for a Missile Attack from 'Iran'
- Snow Job for the Avatar Opening?
- The Year in Viral Videos
- The Conquerors of the Tigers Now Battle for the Spoils
- Sarkozy Stands By France's Hated Immigration Minister
- U.S. Companies Shut Out as Iraq Auctions Its Oil Fields
- The Danger of Doing Business in Russia
- Agent Orange Poisons New Generations in Vietnam
- U.S. Companies Shut Out as Iraq Auctions Its Oil Fields
- Agent Orange Poisons New Generations in Vietnam
- Have Yourself a Sandinista Christmas...
- The Pentagon Prepares for a Missile Attack from 'Iran'
- Corliss Appraises Avatar: A World of Wonder
- Can Asia's Gambling Industry Continue to Thrive?
- Iran's Opposition Loses a Mentor But Gains a Martyr
- Super-Earth: Astronomers Find a Watery New Planet
- The Many Faces of Thom Mayne's 41 Cooper Square
- Did Reid Make Health Reform Tougher Than It Had to Be?





RSS