Reaction to yesterday's victory in the presidential election by the DPP's Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was a mixture of elation, caution and warnings, with opponents blaming both unpredictable voter behavior and President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) himself for the upset that will end more than five decades of power for the KMT.
While congratulating Chen yesterday, his rivals also responded by expressing their own expectations as to how the president-elect would direct the country toward a better future.
"Faced with the intricate current situation, I hope you will lead Taiwan into a new phase with an open mind and new way of thinking,"said vice president and KMT presidential candidate Lien Chan (連戰), who came in third in the election with just 23 percent of the popular vote.
In a concession speech last night, Lien said he respected the results of the election as an expression of the people's will, adding that the smooth process of the election marked another watershed in Taiwan's democratic development.
Meanwhile KMT officials said that tactical voting, the so-called "dump Lien, save Soong"and "dump Lien, save Chen"effects, were mainly responsible for the KMT's election debacle.
KMT Secretary-general Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) announced his resignation over the party's failure in the campaign.
Independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜), who broke away from the KMT to run in the race and won more than 36 percent of the votes, also pledged support for the new DPP-led government.
"The most urgent task now is to support the new government with foresight,"Soong said.
Independent candidate Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良), who won a mere 0.6 percent of the vote, said he hoped Chen would prioritize cross-strait issues and boost public confidence in Taiwan's economy.
Officials from the New Party, which won only 0.1 percent of the vote yesterday, said they believed Chen's victory to a certain extent reflected the 'anti-China' complex of the Taiwanese.
"The intimidating statements from ... Chinese premier Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基) triggered voters' negative emotions, and they voted for Chen,"said Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), leader of the New Party's caucus at the Legislative Yuan.
Beijing, which repeatedly warned Taiwan voters against supporting a pro-independence candidate in the run up to the poll, issued only a brief reaction last night, saying the poll results did not change the island's status as part of China.
Xinhua news agency quoted a statement from the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, China's Cabinet, as saying: "Taiwan's local leadership election and its results cannot change the fact that Taiwan is a part of China's territory."
It did not mention poll victor Chen Shui-bian by name.
Ma Lik, meanwhile, a Hong Kong deputy to China's National People's Congress, said Beijing will watch Chen's actions before taking the next step.
"Beijing will not declare war, not yet,"Ma said. "He [Chen] must persuade Beijing that he will not declare Taiwan independent and that he wants to improve their relationship."
Affirming the military's resolve to safeguard Taiwan's security, Chief of the General Staff Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) pledged loyalty to the new president on behalf of the armed forces immediately after Chen's victory.
"According to article 138 of the constitution, the armed forces should be loyal to the country and protect the people. And article 36 stipulates that the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces,"Tang said.
In light of China's strong suspicion of the DPP's wish to promote independence for Taiwan, easing cross-strait tensions is widely believed to be one of Chen's biggest challenges.
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
COORDINATION, ASSURANCE: Separately, representatives reintroduced a bill that asks the state department to review guidelines on how the US engages with Taiwan US senators on Tuesday introduced the Taiwan travel and tourism coordination act, which they said would bolster bilateral travel and cooperation. The bill, proposed by US senators Marsha Blackburn and Brian Schatz, seeks to establish “robust security screenings for those traveling to the US from Asia, open new markets for American industry, and strengthen the economic partnership between the US and Taiwan,” they said in a statement. “Travel and tourism play a crucial role in a nation’s economic security,” but Taiwan faces “pressure and coercion from the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]” in this sector, the statement said. As Taiwan is a “vital trading
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