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Campaign Special ( What's Next ) - Taiwan wants its own identity, free of the KMT

The election defeat of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance last night signified that Taiwan had taken the next step in realizing Taiwan's individual identity and conscience, according to political observers.

The pan-blue camp's defeat signifies Taiwanese people's determination to be rid of the KMT, said Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒), a political commentator and the editor-in-chief of Contemporary Monthly magazine.

However, after losing to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by only 0.2 percent of the vote, the pan-blue camp's presidential candidate, KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), last night said he would appeal for a recount.

The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Chen sees Taiwan as independent, while Lien favors a conciliatory approach to China and has advocated setting the sovereignty dispute aside in favor of closer business ties, and leaving the political issue for future generations to decide.

The narrow defeat of the pro-unification KMT demonstrates a growing awareness of localization in Taiwanese society, political observers said last night.

"The pan-blue defeat means its `one-China' stance is not popular among the majority of the people in Taiwan," Chin said.

Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), executive member of the Taipei Society and a sociology professor at National Chengchi University, said the KMT-PFP alliance's defeat showed that "Taiwan is entering into a new era."

"The election result was a turning point for Taiwan. The fact that the electorate has dealt a second blow to the pan-blue camp suggests that the ideals advocated by the DPP and [former president] Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) have become part of mainstream thought in Taiwanese society," Ku said.

According to Ku, Beijing will now have to assume

a pragmatic and flexible approach in its dealings with Taiwan, as there is no longer any doubt that the DPP administration represents

the nation's people.

Chin said that China will have to rethink its "one China" principle and face reality by engaging in dialogue with the DPP.

Ger Yeong-kuang (葛永光), a professor of political science

at National Taiwan University, attributed the pan-green camp's victory to "the DPP's superb campaign tactics."

Ger expects cross-strait relations under a DPP administration to be tense, as the pan-blue camp's second defeat in its bid to lay its hands on the keys to the Presidential Office will create a strong sense of crisis within the camp.

Pan-blue supporters' fears that the KMT and PFP might be sidelined after the green camp's victory will put pressure on

the two opposition parties to merge, Ger said.

Another immediate issue facing the KMT is that it is now being forced to engage in "serious reform" and take stock of its own political position, Ku said.

"The Chinese Nationalist Party would have to transform itself into the Taiwanese Nationalist Party to avoid being rejected by the majority of Taiwanese," he said.

Lien and his running mate, PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), will soon be faced with the difficult task of holding the KMT-PFP alliance together, Ku said.

He added that the 68-year-old Lien, having been defeated in two presidential elections, would no longer be able to run his party and will have to retire.

"As for the KMT, it will be faced with infighting on issues such as conflicting approaches of different generations within the party and the question of who would take over the party's leadership," Ku said.

Issues concerning the hand-ling of party assets could also cause problems for the KMT, according to Chin, who also said that another internal split in the party was certainly not out of the question.

"There is the likelihood that some members of the KMT's pro-localization faction could abandon the party and choose to seek a future elsewhere," Chin said.

The KMT will also be forced to reshuffle its leadership in the post-election period, Chin said.

Emile Sheng (盛治仁), a professor of political science at Soochow University, said that the PFP could be faced with a struggle for political survival following its election defeat.
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