OPPOSING EFFECTS:China and the US both influence Taiwanese elections, but to opposite ends, a speaker said, citing the effects of Chinese criticism on the first election

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 24, 2017
By: Sean Lin / Staff reporter

Speakers yesterday reviewed the six direct presidential elections Taiwan has held, touching on a range of issues including the idiosyncrasies of Taiwanese elections and the negative effects of the prolonged waiting period before a presidential handover.

Taiwan-Japan Relations Association President Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), who was the campaign chief executive officer for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), said that scandals have often changed the landscape of elections, citing the smear campaign the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) launched against then-independent candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) surrounding securities he held that were issued by Chung Hsing Bills Finance Co.

The scandal took away the advantage that Soong, who had been leading in the polls by a wide margin, had over Chen and the KMT’s Lien Chan (連戰), and was a major factor behind Soong’s defeat, he said.

Another example regarded the embezzlement charges against Chen, which he said had negatively affected the campaigns of former premiers Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in 2008, because even though the Chen family has claimed innocence to this day, the majority of Taiwanese believe he is guilty, he said.
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