Taiwan's pro-China leader faces test in local elections

TAIWAN HOLDS local elections today which are seen as a key mid-term test of the popularity of President Ma Ying-jeou.

Mr Ma’s pro-China stance won him a landslide victory in national polls in March last year, but his perceived clumsy handling of domestic issues since then has alienated many in the self-ruled island.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong’s forces won the Chinese civil war.

A strong performance by Mr Ma’s nationalist KMT would bolster the president’s mandate and show broad public support for his efforts to get closer to mainland China by economic means.

Today’s local elections are to select county magistrates and city mayors, county and city councillors and township chiefs.

A strong result for Mr Ma would also please Beijing, which considers Mr Ma a person to do business with, despite the civil war origins of the KMT. Beijing particularly disliked Mr Ma’s predecessor.

Mr Ma’s efforts to bring Taiwan and mainland China closer are the most significant since ties were cut at the end of the civil war, when Gen Chiang Kai-shek fled the mainland.

Taiwan has a lively democracy, but it has been blighted by corruption, and this local election campaign was no different, with constant allegations of widespread vote-buying. At least 40 candidates from varying political backgrounds were in custody or indicted as suspects.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is hoping to stage a comeback after it was routed in elections in March last year. The DPP supports Taiwan’s formal independence from China. Relations with Beijing reached a nadir when it held the presidency from 2000 to 2008.

The DPP is banking on voters punishing Mr Ma for his tardy response to the landslides caused by Typhoon Morakot, which killed more than 700 people in August; his failure to kick start the economy and cut unemployment; his policy on China, and the lifting of a ban on US beef imports.

However, the DPP has its own problems. Since it lost last year’s election, former president Chen Shui-bian has been jailed for life for corruption.

Prosecutors have been trying to track down “phantom” voters, people paid to move their official residence and vote for a particular candidate. With China’s influence in Taiwan growing, this week the government also announced new rules that forbid Chinese tourists from attending political rallies or appearing on TV talk shows.