http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10443144 好久未在亞洲的欄位下看到台灣的消息了 這是公開不需訂閱的 應該不會有版權問題 每次看完國外報導 總是很感嘆 人家怎麼寫的這麼平鋪直敘 翻譯http://blog.pixnet.net/mlkj24/post/12721026 Vote, vote and vote again Economicst Jan 3 2008 WITH the new year, election season has arrived in Taiwan. Parliamentary and presidential elections loom in the next three months. As always, the government in Beijing will be watching keenly. The first contest, on January 12th, is for Taiwan's legislature. The opposition Nationalist Party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which favours better relations with the mainland, is expected to retain its majority. The KMT hopes a decisive victory will give it momentum for the big prize, the presidency, to be decided on March 22nd. Ousted in 2000 after five decades in power, the KMT is desperate to win it back. Its hopes were raised on December 28th when a court rejected an appeal against the acquittal on corruption charges of Ma Ying-jeou, the party's former chairman. This cleared him to contest the presidency. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), on the other hand, is planning to use its expected defeat to argue against a concentration of power in KMT hands. Its presidential candidate, Frank Hsieh, will remind voters of the authoritarianism that marked KMT rule in the 20th century. Turnout may be no more than 60%, low by Taiwan's standards. Years of political mudslinging between the big parties have brought disillusionment and apathy. And unfamiliarity with a new electoral system may also deter voters. Taiwan has adopted a “single-seat, dual vote” system similar to those used in Japan and Germany. Voters will choose one direct representative per constituency and a preferred party to provide “at-large” members of parliament. There are 113 seats, of which 73 are directly elected, 34 at-large and six reserved for aboriginal candidates. The KMT is expected to win 60-65 seats, the DPP 35-45. In 2005 the constitution was amended to halve the size of the legislature. The idea was to make it less chaotic and prone to fisticuffs. But the new rules are likely to result in a body stacked with local powerbrokers who care little about national policy. Intending to break the two-party dominance of Taiwan's rough-and-tumble political system, Lee Teng-hui, a former president, has urged voters to opt for minority parties. He even hopes the emergence of a third force in local politics could produce another presidential candidate. The legislative-election campaign has been dominated by two issues. One is the DPP's drive to expunge from Taiwan symbols of Chiang Kai-shek, the KMT leader, who led its retreat from mainland China in 1949. This week, the Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall in Taipei reopened as a “democracy memorial”, highlighting the human-rights abuses of his regime. Second is a procedural dispute over two referendums to be held with the election. One, initiated by the DPP, relates to the KMT's “stolen assets”. The other, introduced by the KMT, which this week nevertheless called a boycott of both referendums, covers alleged corruption by the DPP and President Chen Shui-bian. More important for the DPP than the issues themselves is the chance to settle procedures for yet another referendum, to be held at the same time as the presidential election. It will ask whether Taiwan should apply for membership of the United Nations using the name “Taiwan” rather than its antiquated form al title, “the Republic of China”. This appeals to the DPP's core supporters, who see themselves as Taiwanese, not Chinese. So it is a device both to win votes and raise turnout. But it alarms China, which sees it as a step towards a formal declaration of Taiwan's independence—an event China has said could provoke an invasion. So China, as usual, will be rooting for the KMT. In Taiwan , that is not an advantage. --

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