Chinese President Hu Jintao (
"I sincerely hope that the KMT and the [CCP], together with compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits [sic], will continue to promote the peaceful and steady development of cross-straits [sic] relations, and join hands to create a bright future for the Chinese nation," the government's official Xinhua news agency quoted Hu as telling Ma in a message of congratulation.
The message was sent to the KMT Central Committee and to Ma personally, the agency said.
The election win by the relatively young and charismatic Ma on Saturday paved the way for him to run for president in 2008.
Ma, 55, beat Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
"The sole purpose for my joining the election is to improve the chance for the Chinese Nationalist Party to win the 2008 presidential polls. I hope all our people will unite to help KMT regain power in 2008," Ma told a news conference.
To improve Taiwan-China ties, Ma invited ex-KMT chairman Lien Chan (
Saturday's election was the first direct election for the chairmanship of the KMT, which ruled Taiwan for half a century until it lost the presidential polls in 2000 to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
KMT lost again to the DPP in last year's presidential election. Disillusioned with the KMT, some members left the party to form two splinter parties -- the People First Party (PFP) and the New Party (NP).
Ma, a former law professor and justice minister, is seen by many as a strong candidate for 2008. He opposes Taiwan's independence and has proposed shelving the debate over Taiwan's status, in order to seek economic cooperation with China.
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