From: chang@crowe.seas.ucla.edu (Fengteng Chang)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.taiwan
Subject: News about Taiwanese election (NY Times)
Date: 21 Dec 92 00:10:58 GMT
Organization: SEASnet, University of California, Los Angeles

The following is an article in New york Times,

Fengteng

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Newspaper: The New York Times
Date: Sun. Dec. 20, 1992
Section: International 7
Head: Taiwan Election Helps Opposition
Subhead: Governing Party's Majority Sharply Pared in Vote--- A
'New Era' Is Seen
Reporter: Nicolas D. Kristof
Body of Story:
     TAIPEI. Taiwan, Dec. 19 -- Voters elected Taiwan's first fully
democratic legislature today, giving unexpectedly strong support to
opposition candidates in an election that is considered likely to
speed change on the island.
     The Kuomintang, the Nationalist Party that has ruled Taiwan
for more than 40 years, won a much smaller majority than it had
expected. The opposition party Democratic Progressive Party,which was 
formed illegally just six years ago, emerged with nearly one-third of 
the seats and far more credibility than before.
     The result seemed likely to be a more institutionalized
two-party system, an increasingly assertive legislature, and mounting
pressure within Kuomintang for a Cabinet shuffle and more rapid 
political and social change.
     "This is the dawn of a new era," said Parris H. Chang, a
political scientist at Pennsylvania State University who returned to 
his native as a candidate for the opposition. Professor Chang won a 
seat and will take a leave to serve in the legislature.
     "I think the Democratic Progressive Party will be a formidable 
force to be reckoned with," he said.
                                                                  
                                                                  
                     Milestone in Transition
     
     The election is widely seen as a milestone in Taiwan's
transition from a harsh dictatorship in the early 1980's to a
multiparty democracy in the 1990's. This is the first time that
all legislative seats have been up for election on Taiwan, and
also the first time that candidates were allowed to discuss any
issue and make any criticism without fear of punishment.
     "We may be on the road to a bipartisan democracy," said
Jackson C. Hu, the chief Government spokesman. "In most Asian
countries, such as Japan, there's one dominant party and then
some smaller parties, but instead of that we're seeing the
possibility of a true bipartisan democracy on Taiwan."
     Just as important as the emergence of a two-party system may
be the tendency for the Democratic Progressive Party to become
more of a loyal opposition with greater faith in the system. In
the past, legislative sessions sometimes degenerated into brawls,
but the opposition seems to have mellowed considerably this year
-- in its campaign slogans and in its actions -- and the
prospects of a greater stake in decision-making may bring it even
more into the system.
     Kuomintang officials said they accepted the election results
as a warning from the voters and they looked forward to
consulting more with the opposition.
                                                                  
                                                                  
                                                                  
                   Record for Opposition
     The Democratic Progressive Party won 31 percent of the total
vote, a record for the opposition. Last year it won only about 24
percent of the vote in National Assembly elections, and in 1989
it won 28 percent of the vote in the last legislative elections.
     Among the new opposition party legislators is Shih Ming-teh,
a 51-year-old dissident who spent 25 years in prison for his
peaceful opposition to the Government. Mr. Shih was released from
prison only two years ago.
     The Kuomintang did particularly poorly, going down to 53
percent of the total -- far less than in any previous election.
The remaining votes went to minor parties and to independents,
some of whom are members of the Kuomintang who did not have party
backing.
     The single highest vote-getter, for example, was Jaw
Shau-kong, an American-educated engineer who is a member of
Kuomintang but ran without part's support. The strong showing of
such candidates suggests that the Kuomintang will be more
splintered and weaker in its party discipline than ever before.
     The Kuomintang has already been splitting into factions in
recent months, and in general those candidates who are allied
with the change-oriented elements within the party were the ones
who did the best. One result is likely to be strong pressure for
the resignation of Prime Minister Hau Pei-tsun.
     Mr. Hau was one of the two million mainland Chinese who fled
to Taiwan in 1949 with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek after the
Nationalist's lost the Chinese civil war to the Communists.
                                                                  
                                                                  
                                                                  
                   Biases Are Fewer
     Taiwan's electoral system is generally regarded as tilted in
favor of the Kuomintang, in part because the ruling party has a
four decade head start and far more money and resources. It also
has effective control of most of the news organizations,
particularly radio and television stations, and opposition
candidates complain that coverage is often biased.
     Still, the election appears to be the most democratic ever
held on Taiwan, with fewer biases than in the past.
     "It's not as tilted as it used to be," said Thomas B. Gold,
a sociologist from the University of California at Berkeley who
is visiting Taipei to study the election.
     The President of Taiwan is not now chosen by popular
election, but today's election results will increase the pressure
for the presidency to become elective when the current term
expires in 1996.














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