TAIWAN: REACTIONS TO LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE PARTY IN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS
Record ID:
590757
TAIWAN: REACTIONS TO LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE PARTY IN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS
- Title: TAIWAN: REACTIONS TO LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR DEMOCRATIC PROGRESSIVE PARTY IN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS
- Date: 4th December 2001
- Summary: (W3) TAIPEI, TAIWAN (DECEMBER 2, 2001)(REUTERS) 1. SLV LUNG-SHAN TEMPLE 0.05 2. MV PEOPLE GATHERING AT TEMPLE, READING NEWSPAPER AND DISCUSSING ELECTION; SCU OLD MAN READING THE NEWSPAPER (4 SHOTS) 0.25 3. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) DAI TIN-TING, RETIRED CIVIL SERVANT SAYING "(I look forward to) the new parliament to begin work because the old one does not work anymore." 0.32 4. SCU MORE OF PEOPLE READING NEWSPAPERS AT LUNG-SHAN TEMPLE; MV PILGRIMS AT TEMPLE; MV MAN AT TEMPLE (10 SHOTS) 1.14 5. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) HSIUEH, RETIRED CIVIL SERVANT SAYING "No confidence." reporter asks," why not?" Hsiueh says," didn't think they'd make the economy so bad, the jobless rate is high and big factories closing are down." 1.25 6. HAS SEMINAR ENTITLED "INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION, PEACE AND SECURITY (OF TAIWAN)" 1.32 7. SCU PROFESSOR JUNE TEUFEL DREYER, DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, MIAMI UNIVERSITY 1.35 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TEUFEL DREYER SAYING: "Make a concession and they probably will have to deal with him (Chen Shui-bian) now. They cannot just wait and hope Kuomintang (KMT) victory or People First (Party) (PFP) will give them what they want and they can ignore him now, not for two and a half years, and not for six and a half years." 2.01 9. MV SYMPOSIUM IN PROGRESS (2 SHOTS) 2.09 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PROFESSOR ANDREW NATHAN, CHINA EXPERT AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SAYING "Beijing will be worried about that. Beijing deeply distrusts President Chen Shui-bian, even though he has adopted a non-provocative policy as trying to be pragmatic and flexible, Beijing believes that he (is) aiming eventually towards independence. And especially if, Chen Shui-bian allies himself with former president Lee Teng-hui, which looks as if (that is what) he is going to do, that will certainly help to confirm Beijing's suspicion of him." 2.41 11. SLV MORE OF SEMINAR 2.45 12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATHAN SAYING "Down the road, when the time is ripe and when the situation becomes even more critical Beijing will, if it feels it is necessary, use military forces. But for the near term, I think their project is to do nothing to assist Chen Shui-bian in consolidating his government and to open up talks or to facilitate government-to-government talks or facilitate the Taiwan government's claiming credit for better relations with China. All of that is not in the interest of Beijing." 3.24 13. SLV SYMPOSIUM IN PROGRESS 3.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 19th December 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TAIPEI, TAIWAN
- Country: Taiwan
- Reuters ID: LVA6WHZWO5IP0FWYQCI632M049CH
- Story Text: As Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
savours a landslide win in legislative elections, analysts
ponder over what the win will mean for cross-Strait relations
while ordinary people pray for a pick up in the economy.
A day after Taiwan ruling party, Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) won the majority seats in the parliament, about over a
hundred scholars and political analysts gathered at Grand
Hotel to participate in the International Symposium on
Democratic Consolidation, Peace and Security (of Taiwan)", a
seminar organised by the Institute of International Relations,
National Chengchi
University.
By declaring an intolerance for political gridlock
in parliamentary elections, Taiwan voters have put pressures
on all parties to focus in the island's worst-ever recession.
President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) unexpectedly emerged as the dominant legislative force
in Saturday's (December 1) vote.
Though still short of a majority, it has a strengthened
mandate and the Nationalist Party will find it much harder to
throw a wrench in its legislative programme.
After Chen won last year's presidential elections, the
Nationalist-dominated legislature undermined Chen's
initiatives at almost every turn just as the export-fueled
economy began to succumb to the global economic slowdown.
In Saturday's polls, voters rejected these obstructionist
tactics as the DPP replaced the Nationalists as the largest
party in the 225-member parliament by adding 21 seats to claim
87.
The foundering Nationalists saw their grip on power
continue to slip away as they won only 68 seats, down from the
123 secured in the 1998 elections, which was whittled down to
110 seats by defections to a Nationalist splinter party.
"(I look forward to) the new parliament to begin work
because the old one does not work anymore," said Dai Tin-Ting,
a 65-year-old retired civil servant.
On the diplomatic front, the DPP's victory is likely to
alarm Beijing, which will see it as emboldening the DPP to
move Taiwan further towards independence.
China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has
threatened to attack if the island declares independence or
drags its feet on unification talks.
"Beijing deeply distrusts President Chen, even though he
has adopted a non-provocative policy as trying to be pragmatic
and flexible. Beijing believes that he is eventually aiming
for Independence. And especially Chen Shui-bian allies himself
with former president, Lee Teng-hui, which looks as if (what)
he is going to do, that will certainly help Beijing to confirm
their suspicion of him," said Andrew Nathan, a China expert
who teaches political science at Columbia University.
"Down the road when the time is ripe and when the
situation becomes even more critical Beijing will, if it feels
it is necessary, use military force, but for the near term, I
think their project is to do nothing to assist Chen Shui-bian
in consolidating his government and to open talks or to
facilitate government-to-government talks, or facilitate the
Taiwan government's claiming credit for better relations with
China. All of that is not in the interest of Beijing," Nathan
added.
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