Tue, Nov 28, 2000 page9

• Election debate putting forwardreform question

  • By Joyce Huang / STAFF REPORTER
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  Despite the controversy over the vote recount in Florida, the next US president will soon be on the center stage.

  But the debate will continue: What if the US president-elect loses the popular vote?

  And how can the US presidential electoral system be reformed to better reflect democratic principles?

  Many Americans are also casting doubt upon their own democracy, but Chinese dissidents in exile see the Electoral College vote system as a paradigm for China to imitate, if it is to have free elections in the future.

  "The US should reform their electoral system to better reflect public opinion, but I think China should adopt such an electoral vote system in the first 100 years of holding free elections. The purpose is to safeguard the rights of minorities in remote provinces where eligible voters are few and which presidential candidates tend to ignore," general secretary of the Alliance for a Democratic China ? Chinese Liberal Democratic Party (中國民主聯合陣線, 中國自由民主黨) Lin Qiaoqing (林樵清) said from New York.

  Endorsing Lin's view, Paul Lin (凌鋒) -- currently a political commentator in New York City -- said that the Chinese authorities promise to enforce a higher level of autonomy in their own local governments such as was evident Hong Kong and Taiwan, was no guarantee that they would keep their promise.

  Therefore, he said that federal (聯邦制) or confederate systems (邦聯制) can better safeguard the independence and interests of some minor provinces.

  Lin, nevertheless, expressed his worries that technical problems revealed during the controversy over the credibility of manual vote recounting and outdated voting facilities would further jeopardize the US' democratic foundation.

  He, therefore, suggested that the US look into the enhancement of technical facilities and to reform the election system nationwide.

  Chris Wu (伍凡), a former activist in China and currently the editor-in-chief of China Affairs and China Spring magazines (中國之春雜誌), said that US electoral system was in crisis.

  Wu said that if Governor George Bush was elected, he would only be a president of the minority (弱勢總統) domestically. He said that the Senate and Congress would definitely give him a hard time in the near future.

  Wu said that the Republican party's control of both houses would not ensure political stability since their winning margin was only slim, which predicated future stand-offs when it came to voting on issues.

  Wu expressed the worry that if Bush was elected, the Senate and the House would then both be in line with Republican party policy.

  He believed such a situation would sabotage the design of "checks and balances in power" in terms of party politics.

  Once a student leader in the 1989 Tainanmen Square protest (天安門廣場學運), Wang Dan (王丹), who is currently a Harvard University student, looked on the bright side and believed that "both Gore and Bush showed respect for due process before the official outcome of the Florida vote was determined, which further proved that no major social impact was likely to be triggered if a sound electoral system was put into operation."

  "No single electoral system can satisfy everybody. Therefore, to follow the rules is among the most important attitudes in democracy. The rule of law should prevail," Wang said.

  The impact of the election on the US-China-Taiwan relationship is another factor that depends on the outcome of the Florida election.

  Wu said he thought that Bush would play a tougher role when dealing with China internationally since "China depends so much on the US in terms of the WTO entry, technology and financial development, and market demands."

  But Wu further said that US policy toward China and Taiwan would not undergo any dramatic change given that Bush had made campaign promises in favor of Taiwan.

  Wu said that US interests have always been the American president's top priority.

  Both Lins, however, raised doubts on whether Bush would actually get tough with China.

  "Bush's father, former [American] President George Bush, had a close relation with China during his presidency ? so close that he even sent American delegates over to China one week after the Tiananmen Square massacre," Lin Qiaoqing said, adding that senior Bush's influence on the junior Bush was undoubted.

  Paul Lin also said that Bush's stronger commitment to industries than Gore has made it difficult to predict what he would do after taking control of the White House if he wins the presidency.

  "The Republican party is more conservative and anti-communist in nature and tradition.

  "Its emphasis on industrial interests will also ironically make it bow to Chinese markets, which may generate inconsistency in Republican policy toward China," he said.

  Wu said that the recent political infighting among Chinese top-ranking leaders has kept Chinese President Jiang Zemin's (江澤民) focus on domestic issues instead of the political turmoil in Taiwan and the US presidential election. Because of that, the US-China-Taiwan triangular relationship was maintaining its normal course, he said.

  According to Wu's analysis, Jiang has been under great political pressures recently and might be defeated in the upcoming political struggle.

  "The spectacle he made of himself in front of the Hong Kong media [in late October] was a major minus for his leadership, which shows that the political infighting is extremely fierce and Jiang is probably losing," he said.
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