Ruling party ousted in Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan headed for better relations with mainland China yesterday with the election of the opposition Nationalist Party’s candidate as president.

Simultaneously, two referendums calling on the government to work for the island’s entry into the United Nations as an independent entity — strongly opposed by Beijing — were defeated.

“Cross-strait relations have stagnated, so we have to prioritize things,” Nationalist candidate Ma Ying-jeou told supporters after the Central Election Commission announced he defeated Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

“When we improve relations with the mainland, we will also strengthen our security ties with Washington,” he said.

Mr. Ma, the 57-year-old Harvard-educated former mayor of Taipei, won 58 percent of the vote, compared to 41.5 percent for his challenger, according to the election commission. Turnout was 76 percent, the commission said.

Confetti snowed down on giddy followers at Mr. Ma’s headquarters, and fireworks exploded in the sky. Mr. Ma’s win returns the presidency to the Nationalist Party, which ruled Taiwan for five decades before suffering defeats in the past two elections.

Mr. Ma won his victory after the Nationalist Party, which once ruled all of China, clinched a more than two-thirds majority in legislative elections in January, giving it a clear mandate to push ahead with its policies to boost an economy that has lagged some Asian peers.

One of the two referendums asked voters if they would support the island’s application to join the United Nations under the name Taiwan, rather than under its long-standing official title, the Republic of China. About 5.5 million “yes” votes were counted, when approximately 8.5 million votes were necessary for passage, election commission figures show.

Mr. Ma said he had no plans to go to China but hinted that he would visit other major nations before taking office on May 20.

The mainland’s communist leadership quickly expressed approval of the outcome of the U.N. referendum, which had been pushed strongly by the outgoing DPP administration.

“That referendum has failed, which goes to show that the people are not in favor of those who advocate Taiwan independence,” Li Weiyi, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told Taiwanese reporters in Beijing.

The United States, Japan and Singapore congratulated the soon-to-be new Taiwanese leader.

President Bush called Taiwan a beacon of democracy and said it and Beijing had to talk in order to build foundations for stability and refrain from unilateral steps.

“The election provides a fresh opportunity for both sides to reach out and engage one another in peacefully resolving their differences,” he said.

Mr. Ma promised voters he will try to negotiate a peace treaty with Beijing and deepen Taiwan’s already robust economic relationship with the mainland.

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