China silent on Taiwan election

Three days after President Chen Shui-bian was reelected by a microscopic 0.2 margin, Chinese media has said little about the vote, or Mr. Chen, whom China regards as a troublemaker for his efforts to foster a separate Taiwan. Tuesday Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan broke the silence slightly by stating that "the results don't matter and won't change the fact that Taiwan is part of China."

China now has a 24-hour news channel that covers the latest explosions in Baghdad, the shooting of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, and the New Hampshire primaries. But events in Taiwan, which a majority of Chinese say they would readily go to war over, rarely make the news in the state-run press. Prior to the vote, Beijing officials were studiously disinterested in what they term the "so-called elections." This position remains, though China now appears to back the opposition Kuomintang Party's demand for a recount.

Yet more broadly, if Taiwan is developing a different and more complex social, political, and intellectual identity, this is not yet a subject of news or discussion here outside elite circles. Moreover, how the Taiwanese people behave, what they think, how they define their ambitions is not a topic that local media or average Chinese pay attention to. Taiwan in the Chinese mind may be an object of great and manifest desire, but it is held without much reference to its actual character or daily activity.

On March 21, the day after 13.5 million Taiwanese voted, papers around Asia carried the results in banner headlines. In Beijing, the People's Daily, the paper of record here, led with a 1,000 word story on future developments in modern Chinese philosophy. On the bottom right, a 60 word report from the official Taiwan Affairs Council, mentioned only that Taiwan's first referendum, which was held in tandem with the elections, had not passed.

Mr. Sun, an agricultural salesman walking to lunch here Tuesday, said he heard a TV report that Taiwan held elections. But the report had not stated who the winner was. "I'm not sure who won," Sun added.

China is highly attentive to protocol, and with protesters demanding a recount in the streets of Taipei, and with offers by Chen to recount, an official response by China may be premature. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing have spoken by phone, foreign ministry officials say. Mr. Li asked Mr. Powell to "do more to support the 'One China' policy." For Beijing, "one China" means that Taiwan is part of China's sovereign territory, despite it's separate 51-year history.

For China, the stakes in the Taiwan vote are high. Chen's Democratic Progressive Party, and the old ruling Kuomintang Party - represent different approaches to China. The KMT or Nationalist party, which ironically was formed by the losing side in China's civil war, is viewed more favorably in Beijing. Moreover, having lost in 2000, if the KMT concedes a loss this year, the party could well fall apart, outside observers say, and set up dynamics in Taiwan that China will have difficulty managing.

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