Most of the attention is on Mr. Chen, who is disliked by China for his past advocacy of formal independence for Taiwan. Even though he has moved away from that position, China has warned the island's voters not to choose him as their next president. Lin Win-yih is a retired Taiwanese schoolteacher, and he says China's threats may make some people fearful of voting for Mr. Chen but they make him angry. It certainly affects some but not much and such kind of attitude, we think it's ugly. Taiwan is Taiwan.
China is China.
That's a common feeling in Taiwan. Every year, polls show the number of people who consider themselves Taiwanese as opposed to Chinese is growing. Last month, one such poll showed that 45 percent of the population identified themselves as Taiwanese compared to 14 percent who see themselves as Chinese and 39 percent who say they are both. That is not good news for Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a wayward province that must be reunited with the mainland. Frank Hsu, a mechanic, is one of those who consider themselves Taiwanese.