Taipei — Taiwan was thrown into political turmoil Sunday after its president won re-election by a razor-thin margin of less than 1 per cent, triggering violent protests by opposition leaders who said the vote was unfair and should be nullified.
Riot police were mobilized to block the mobs of opposition supporters who marched to court buildings in Taipei and other Taiwanese cities to demand that the election of President Chen Shui-bian should be invalidated.
Protests were continuing in several cities Sunday morning, with crowds erupting into violent clashes with riot police in two large cities. Opposition supporters smashed windows in courthouses and used a campaign truck to smash into a crowd-control barrier, while the police fought back with clubs. In Taipei, demonstrators were gathering at the presidential office after a night of protests.
Lawyers for opposition candidate Lien Chan went to the court building in Taipei at midnight to demand the sealing of all ballot boxes in 13,000 voting stations to allow a recount of the controversial vote. The ballot boxes were eventually sealed.
Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian speaks at the Democratic People Party headquarters in Taipei following his re-election on Saturday. (Thomas Cheng/AFP)
In an election where 13 million votes were cast, Mr. Chen won victory by less than 30,000 votes, the narrowest margin in Taiwan's history. "This slim gap has been achieved under clouds of suspicion," Mr. Lien told his supporters. "It's not a fair election. Prepare to apply to annul the election."
Just hours before the election, Mr. Chen and vice-president Annette Lu suffered bullet wounds in a mysterious assassination attempt as they campaigned in a southern city. The opposition cited the shooting — and the lack of a full explanation about what exactly happened — as one reason for the unfairness of the election. Some opposition supporters alleged that the shooting was staged. They also cited the large number of spoiled ballots and the inability of soldiers to vote because of the security alert after the assassination attempt.
Mr. Chen's supporters retorted that the opposition had not issued any complaints until it discovered that it had lost the election. They said the opposition had a right to launch legal action, but they said they had not seen any evidence to support the complaints.
Fearing possible chaos in the streets as about 10,000 people celebrated their victory at a rally Sunday night, Mr. Chen and his aides urged their supporters to disperse peacefully. They were careful to avoid any comment on Mr. Lien's complaints, worried that their supporters could physically clash with opposition supporters if the issue was whipped up.
Mr. Chen's victory is bad news for the Communist authorities in Beijing, who have been infuriated by his pro-independence stance and his tactical use of referendums and constitutional changes to promote Taiwan's independence.
Beijing was hoping that Mr. Chen would be swept out of office by the opposition, which formed a united front after being damaged by internal splits in the previous election. The president's popularity had sharply declined after Taiwan's economic slump in the past two years, and Mr. Lien's team had been confident of a victory.
But to the astonishment of many observers, Mr. Chen managed to boost his popularity from 39 per cent in the last election to more than 50 per cent in Saturday's election — largely by promoting a "Taiwan First" platform that emphasized Taiwan's separate identity. He also campaigned against the military threat from mainland China, where 500 missiles at coastal bases are targeted at Taiwan.
Earlier this year, Mr. Chen provoked an angry reaction from Beijing when he announced that Saturday's election would include a referendum on whether Taiwan should bolster its defences against the Chinese missiles.
The United States and several other countries had criticized the referendum, worried that it would aggravate the tense showdown between Taiwan and mainland China.
In one small piece of good news for Beijing, the referendum failed to gather enough support in Saturday's election to become official. Because of a boycott by most opposition supporters, only 45 per cent of voters participated in the referendum, short of the 50 per cent necessary to make it valid.
The referendum did, however, help Mr. Chen to draw attention to the Chinese military threat, creating a patriotic mood that boosted his campaign. It was an example of the shrewd political manoeuvring that allowed the feisty 53-year-old lawyer to maintain his grip on power and shift the political agenda towards the issues of independence and sovereignty.
His vice-president, Ms. Lu, made a dramatic appearance in a wheelchair at his election-night rally Sunday night. After suffering a cut on her knee in the assassination attempt, she climbed to her feet with the assistance of a crutch to speak to the crowd. "As president or vice-president, it is our responsibility to take the bullet for everyone," she said. "The devil's hand pulled the trigger. But the ballot is more powerful than the bullet."
Ms. Lu dismissed the opposition claims of unfairness. "If you don't have proof, you can't just wantonly claim it is an unfair election," she said.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Chen said the election was the beginning of a new era. He urged Beijing to remove the 500 missiles that are targeted at Taiwan.
"We sincerely ask the Beijing authorities across the Taiwan Strait to view the election result from a positive perspective, to accept the democratic decision of the Taiwanese people," Mr. Chen told the jubilant crowd of flag-waving supporters, who celebrated the victory with a barrage of firecrackers and blasts of noise from air horns.
