Democratic Taiwan more exciting

Everyone knows Taiwan recently elected its first "opposition" president, but most Americans are unaware of other equally-momentous events since then.

This is a pity, because politics in Taiwan are a lot more interesting than the same, tired "donkey-and-elephant show" going on in the US right now. Taiwan is abuzz with political developments that just a few years ago would have been impossible.

On March 24, outgoing President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) step-ped down as chairman of the KMT party. A chairman stepping down after his party's first defeat in 54 years is no surprise. But Lee had planned to leave in Septem-ber. He was forced out early by a grassroots uprising within the party.

That is something new.

It now seems likely the KMT will start "electing" its chairmen by direct vote of the membership. That is downright revolutionary, considering the Leninist-authoritarian structure of the party.

The KMT's electoral drubbing resulted from a split between the old-guard Lien Chan (連戰) camp and supporters of James Soong (宋楚瑜), who was ousted from the party last December over a money scandal.

Lien supporters said Soong had turned against the KMT's traditional strength -- preserving the status-quo in economic boom-times. Soong supporters believed only a maverick could shake out the legacy of "black-gold" political corruption that has shamed Taiwan for decades.

Both were right. And both lost.

Now the two camps are bickering over who "deserted" whom, while Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) DPP is laughing all the way to the Presidential Palace.

Last week Soong announced the formation of a new political party, the People First Party. Meanwhile, the KMT is preparing to purge all members who defected to him.

This tectonic shift in the political landscape will change Taiwan forever and have deep ramifications in the complex US-China-Taiwan relationship.

But political fireworks are not the only reason Americans should pay more attention to Taiwan. Taiwan is undergoing a democratic revolution that puts America to shame.

Eighty-two percent of eligible voters made it to the polls on March 18, despite the fact that many were hampered by archaic laws requiring them to travel great distances to vote in their home districts.

Eighty-two percent!

Taiwanese people don't have the luxury of US-style political apathy. Their vote was widely seen as the most important thing they will ever do. Given the bellicose rhetoric from Beijing before the election, it's no exaggeration to say they were putting their lives on the line when they stood up to declare that they want to have a say in Taiwan's future.

It's been a while since Americans had a life-and-death decision to make at the ballot box. Or so we seem to think, given our anemic voter-turnout rates.

And yet, America just put its citizen number two million in jail, making us the number-one jailer on earth -- bar none. Guns turn up in grade-schools on an almost weekly basis. The "War on Drugs" has ravaged the Bill of Rights and threatens to drag us into a Vietnam-style conflict in Colombia.

Maybe we have something to get worked up about, after all. Maybe what we're really missing is choice.

Where's the difference betwen George W Bush and Al Gore? Both claim they will cut taxes, reduce spending, preserve social security, protect the environ-ment, create jobs, boost education, etc, etc. The usual laundry list of so-called issues culled from endless opinion polls by their campaign managers.