Ma Ying-jeou, seated second from left, watched Ho Tsai-feng, a candidate from his Nationalist Party, have her head shaved as a declaration of innocence. She was accused of buying votes.  

By DAVID LAGUE
Published: January 12, 2008


TAIPEI, Taiwan — Voters went to the polls here on Saturday in the first of two closely spaced elections that will shape this self-governing island’s strategy for dealing with mainland China, its rival.

Opinion polls and most political analysts suggest that the election will renew control of Parliament by the opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, before the March 22 presidential election. The party’s popular candidate, Ma Ying-jeou, is expected to campaign on avoiding confrontation with Beijing.

For the Taiwanese president, Chen Shui-bian, and his governing Democratic Progressive Party, the parliamentary election could be a gauge of public support for his plan to hold a controversial referendum alongside the presidential election to ask voters to support the island’s bid to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan. Its formal name is the Republic of China.

China condemns the referendum as a step toward formal separation, and the United States has called it provocative and an unnecessary step that raises tension across the Taiwan Strait.

But, in the last months of his second and final term, Mr. Chen and the party’s presidential candidate, Frank Hsieh, are refusing to back down.

Senior officials of the Democratic Progressive Party say that the referendum is an important protest against China’s continuing military buildup opposite the island and its moves to reinforce Taiwan’s international isolation.

“We feel it is important we have a strong reaction to Chinese suppression of our international space,” said Hsiao Bi-khim, a Democratic Progressive Party member of Parliament, or the Legislative Yuan.

“It has been suffocating,” she added.

Reports in the Taiwanese news media this week suggested that Malawi, one of only 24, mostly impoverished, countries that recognize Taiwan, was considering switching its diplomatic allegiance to Beijing in return for economic assistance.

Mr. Chen’s critics say that the referendum is an attempt to deflect attention from what they describe as his lackluster record of economic management over almost eight years in office, largely as a result of failing to capitalize fully on China’s soaring growth.

And they say that it unnecessarily raises tensions with Beijing, while at the same time alienating the United States, an ally that is crucial to deterring China from using force to achieve its aim of bringing the island under its control.

Other critics say that Mr. Chen has a record of successfully combining elections with controversial referendums as a tool for mobilizing supporters.


The Kuomintang, once one of the world’s richest political parties, governed Taiwan for 51 consecutive years before Mr. Chen’s election in 2000.

Mr. Ma acknowledges that Taiwan needs a capable military and a strong relationship with Washington to counter the risk of conflict with China. But he and his supporters say that Taiwan should treat China as more of an opportunity than a threat.

The parliamentary elections will also test Taiwan’s efforts to streamline its political system and improve the conduct of sometimes fiery and violent debate in the Legislative Yuan.

Under a new system for this election, the number of parliamentary seats will be halved to 113, from 225.

Of these, 73 will represent electoral districts, 6 will be elected by indigenous people and 34 will be at-large seats, drawn from a list of nominees based on their parties’ share of the vote.

One immediate effect of the new system, according to analysts, is that candidates have been concentrating on local issues, including health, education and public works in their electorates rather than foreign policy or ties with China.

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