Taiwan’s New Party Triples Seats Electorate Troubled By Beijing War Games

Taiwan’s fledgling New Party, which advocates step-by-step reunification with the communist mainland, tripled its seats in Saturday’s parliamentary elections, leaving the ruling Nationalist Party with a wafer-thin parliamentary majority.

An electorate troubled by Beijing’s war games off this affluent island and threats of an invasion slashed the Nationalist majority by 10 seats to one after China, which considers Taiwan a renegade province, accused the party of reneging on reunification and attempting “covert” independence.

Analysts felt the result was influenced by Taiwan’s commercial interests and investments on mainland China, which absorb a tenth of the island’s wealth as companies have moved factories to the cheaper Chinese labor market across the Taiwan Strait.

If the vote was a triumph for Beijing’s intimidation methods, it was clearly a major setback for the Nationalists, who ruled Taiwan under a one-party dictatorship until 1986 when they permitted the formation of opposition parties. Since then, Nationalist dominance has gradually eroded.

“This is one of the freest countries in Asia now,” said former Sen. Malcolm Wallop, R-Wyo., who was one of the sponsors of the Taiwan Relations Act and attended the election as an observer. “The things candidates said during the election campaign would have got them into prison 10 years ago,”

The ballot’s outcome has also placed in doubt the re-election of President Lee Teng-hui next March. Lee has been vilified by China as a renegade on reunification, and Taiwanese voters who privately admire the independent-minded president served warning Saturday they do not want an adventurist policy that could damage the lucrative cross-Taiwan Strait relations.