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Ruling Party Declares Taiwan Election Win

Posted on: Saturday, 20 March 2004, 06:00 CST

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan's ruling party declared victory in Saturday's election, claiming a narrow win for President Chen Shui-bian a day after he was shot by a would-be assassin. His challenger said he had "suspicions" about the vote and would seek to nullify it.

Separately, Taiwanese voted on a referendum asking if the island should beef up defenses if China refuses to withdraw missiles targeting it and whether to seek peace talks with Beijing. Those results were expected later Saturday.

Fireworks boomed in the night sky as ruling party lawmaker Hsiao Bi-khim addressed supporters at Chen's headquarters, "We've proved to the world that we've won. Today's victory is a victory for democracy and a victory for Asia."

Official results were not in, but unofficial results reported by TVBS cable news said Chen squeaked by with about 50,000 more votes than Nationalist Party leader Lien Chan after a close campaign. A total of about 13 million ballots were cast, the station said.

Minutes later, Lien said he would challenge the vote results.

"There was not just single but a series of actions that made all of us feel that there were clouds of suspicions," Lien told a cheering crowd at his campaign headquarters, mentioning the bizarre assassination attempt on Chen and his vice president.

Earlier, Lien supporters wept and shook their heads in dismay as the last unofficial vote counts popped up on TV screens.

The attack on Chen and Vice President Annette Lu came during last-minute campaigning at noontime Friday as they rode through the southern town of Tainan in an open-top car, waving to supporters. Chen was hit in the abdomen, Lu in the knee.

Neither leader was seriously wounded, and that attack immediately sparked speculation that the Nationalists staged the attack to draw sympathy votes in the tight race.

"A bullet was fired at President Chen, but it ended up hurting us," said Jason Hu, mayor of Taichung, Taiwan's third-largest city.

Joseph Wu, a senior Presidential Office official, said "there were no sympathy votes," adding that the party's polls showed Chen leading by 2 percentage points before the shots were fired. Also, prosecutors Saturday said the shooting was being treated as a criminal case - not a conspiracy or an attack that involved China.

Even before the shooting, the election was unprecedented because it involved Taiwan's first islandwide referendum.

The China issue revved up Chen's supporters and gave the race an exciting twist. His party has long wanted to hold such a referendum. Also, the candidates - neck and neck during the campaign - come from dramatically different backgrounds.

Chen grew up in a poor village and graduated from Taiwan's top law school. He got into politics by defending dissidents during the martial law era, which ended in 1987. He has been a legislator and Taipei mayor.

Lien, 67, belongs to one of Taiwan's richest families. The former political science professor served as an ambassador, foreign minister, premier and vice president in the former Nationalist government.

Still, the candidates agreed on most major issues, including China policy. Neither favors immediate unification, and both deeply distrust the communist leadership. Chen, of the Democratic Progressive Party, has been more aggressive in pushing for a Taiwanese identity separate from China, though, raising tensions with Beijing.

Earlier Saturday, Chen slowly strolled into a voting station in the capital, Taipei, surrounded by bodyguards armed with submachine guns. He walked stiffly, looking wan and serious. He smiled slightly as he dropped his ballot in the box and told reporters that gunshots would never derail Taiwan's democracy.

"It doesn't matter where the bullet came from, A-bian won't be struck down," Chen said, referring to himself by his nickname. "And even if I were struck down, this could not strike down the aspirations of Taiwan's 23 million people for democracy and liberty."

After he voted, Lien, an ex-vice president, urged voters not to be swayed by their emotions. "We must be brave and calm," he said as he cast his ballot.

Chinese leaders have denounced the referendum, which they fear is a rehearsal for a vote on Taiwanese independence. The two sides split when the communists took over the Chinese mainland in 1949. Beijing wants Taiwan to rejoin the mainland and has threatened to attack if Taiwan seeks a permanent split.

China broke its official silence early Saturday about the assassination attempt, saying only that the government was following developments. It failed to join other Asian governments in wishing Chen a quick recovery.

The noncommittal, two-sentence statement by Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office reflected a dilemma over how to respond without boosting the popularity of a Taiwanese leader that the communist mainland government reviles as a liar and traitor.

"We've taken note of the shooting at Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu," said its statement, carried by the official Xinhua News Agency. "We'll continue to follow the developments."

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