HOMENATION
INDICATORS
Tax Dollars, Child Heath,
Internet Use and More
CAMPAIGN 2000
Pump Up the Volume
Who Gets the 'A'
in Education?
What They Think of
Each Other
WORKSHEET:
The Big Issues:
A Summary
CIVIL RIGHTS
The Ghosts of Alabama
SOCIETY
Aye, Aye, Ma'am
SCIENCE
The Race Is Over
BUSINESS
Grounds For Appeal
WORLD
GLOBAL ECONOMY
The New Radicals
MIDDLE EAST
Arafat's Long Journey
After the Lion
RUSSIA
The Acid-Bath Solution
WORKSHEET:
The Role of the President:
A Comparison
ASIA
The Remaking of
a Dictator
Taiwan Takes a Stand
AFRICA
When the Peace
Cannot Be Kept
LATIN AMERICA
The Bionic Candidate
Can One Boy
Change Policy?
WORKSHEET:
Deciding Elián's Fate
TECHNOLOGY
Attack of the
Love Bug
Current Events in Review
Answers
ASIA
By TERRY McCARTHY/TAIPEI
The future won over the past, and hope overcame fear in Taiwan Saturday as voters chose opposition candidate Chen Shui-bian as their next President—despite warnings from Beijing that his election could mean war. Chen’s win, which ended 55 years of Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) rule on the island, sent tremors around Asia in anticipation of Beijing’s reaction, even as the streets of Taipei turned into a party. Only 14 years ago, Chen, a pro-democracy lawyer, had been languishing in jail on charges of libeling a high-ranking KMT member. “This is the greatest victory of Taiwan’s democracy movement,” Chen told TIME in his office on the day of the victory.
It was always going to be a close race. But because of a Taiwanese rule that prohibits polling a full week before an election, no one could firmly predict how the voting would turn out. When unofficial polls showed Chen nudging ahead, Beijing added to the uncertainty by trying to browbeat the electorate into voting against him. But when all the ballots were counted, Chen had notched just over 39% of the votes. His closest rival, the independent candidate James Soong, had nearly 37%, while the KMT candidate, Vice President Lien Chan, slumped with a 23% showing.
After a week of wild electioneering—and equally wild slips and slides in Taipei’s stock market—the final tally provided an emotional release. “I am overwhelmed by the victory,” said Hsiao Li-hsin, 30, a legislative assistant who stood among the mob that crowded the streets outside Chen’s party headquarters. “I’m going to stay here all night and all tomorrow morning.” Police had closed the streets to traffic for blocks around the victory party, which filled the air with confetti, firecrackers and the occasional outburst of song. “I’m going to sleep well for the first time in 50 years,” said Shih Shia-shu, 70, a pensioner wearing a Chen hat.
But as Chen’s supporters frolicked, others began to worry about the future under the new President, whose Democratic Progressive Party (D.P.P.) has a history of espousing Taiwanese independence. China has long threatened invasion if Taiwan declares independence, and it waged a strong war of words against Chen’s candidacy. This culminated last Wednesday in an attack by Zhu Rongji, the reform-minded Premier, normally a moderate regarding Taiwan. Zhu warned voters in Taiwan against “impulse” voting: “Otherwise I’m afraid you won’t get another opportunity to regret.” He said Chinese were prepared to “shed blood” to protect their territory, and dismissed Western military analysts who say China is still years away from having the ability to invade Taiwan successfully.
Warning lights began flashing across Asia and as far away as Washington. If Zhu the moderate was talking war, what were the hawks in the People’s Liberation Army planning? U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen, touring Asia, said Beijing’s “threat of the use of force is counterproductive.”
In fact, Beijing’s crude attempt to influence the elections seems to have backfired, just as its tactic of shooting missiles into the Taiwan Strait backfired during the last elections in 1996. “I am not afraid of China,” said office secretary Lee Fan-mei, 35, who voted for Chen. “We need to assert ourselves as Taiwan and as the Taiwanese people.”
Time, March 27, 2000
Questions
1. What forces supported Chen’s candidacy?
2. How and why did China’s Premier Zhu Rongji attempt to influence the election in Taiwan?