TAIWAN—On March 22, Kuomintang (KMT) presidential and vice presidential candidates, Ma Ying-Jeou and Vincent Siew, won with 58.45 percent of the popular vote against rivals Frank Hsieh and Su Tseng-Chang. This election has had an international audience because of the polarity between Taiwan's democracy and Beijing's dictatorship.
Right after the Taiwan Central Election Commission announced that Ma Ying-Jeou and Vincent Siew will become Taiwan's twelfth president and vice president, current President Chen Shui-bian congratulated them and expressed his wish to make all efforts to maintain political stability in Taiwan and to assist in the transfer of political power.
According to a China expert, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must anguish about the result, since it needs a hostile target to incite extreme nationalism at home. If the KMT is in power, the CCP's strategy of "opposition to Taiwan independence" to stimulate Nationalism in China by using Taiwan's democracy becomes useless. This is not the result that the CCP wanted to see.
Beijing Seems Disappointed
After the result of the election was announced, Taiwan did not have any political unrest but successfully realized a peaceful change in ruling parties in a democratic election. The stable and rational reaction of the public won praise from the international community. The CCP appeared quite disappointed as Xinhua, Beijing's official mouthpiece, reported the election with a little fanfare.
The spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the China's State Council, Li Weiyi, and media in mainland China focused on the failure in passing the referendum to "Join the UN" and "Return to UN" when reporting Taiwan's presidential election. Besides, the CCP did not show its zeal or recognition of the KMT victory.
Peace Talks to Persuade Beijing to Withdraw Missiles
Ma told foreign media after he won the presidential election that he was willing to hold peace talks with Beijing, but with the precondition that the Chinese authorities have to withdraw their missiles.
"A peace treaty will not have priority over the economy and trade. Of course, we want to get started on the issue of a peace agreement with China. We have clearly expressed that Beijing should withdraw the missiles aimed at Taiwan if it wants to have a dialogue on the issue. We don't want to talk about peace under the threat of war," said Ma.
Ma also said that he did not plan to visit China, but he hinted that he would visit other major countries before the inauguration on May 20. The United States, Japan and Singapore have expressed congratulations to Ma.
The Chinese People Can Be Rational in Politics
Wei Jingsheng, a well-known activist in the Chinese democracy movement, said that the Taiwanese people have proven that Chinese people can deal with politics rationally. He thinks that Ma's victory reflects that many Taiwanese people were not satisfied with the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The election, expressed the public's opinion, and this will pressure all political parties to examine their own policies.
Former President—A Democratic Reunification of China and Taiwan
In his congratulatory message, Guo Quan, the acting chairman of the newly established Chinese New People's Party (CNPP), said the fact that the KMT again governs Taiwan is good for Mainland China and Taiwan to bring about a reunification under democracy.
"The rulers of China can no longer be autocratic because the Chinese people in mainland China will not allow it. The Chinese people across the Taiwan Strait will not allow it, and the Chinese people around the world will not allow it! The Chinese people who live in China have no reason to continue living under the tyrannical rule," said Guo, "Members of the CNPP believe that China can have a great revival only under a democratic reunification."
Feeds