Taiwan''s opposition has won a legislative majority in a stunning upset over President Chen Shui-Bian''s pro-independence coalition.
The opposition Nationalist Party and its allies won a combined 114 of the 225 seats in parliament in Saturday''s election, the Central Election Commission said.
Chen''s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, won a combined 101 seats. They had been favored to increase their seats and possibly take control of parliament.
The remaining 10 seats went to independents and other groups.
Of the legislative seats, 176 are directly elected and 49 are divided up according to the number of votes each party received in the direct election.
Chen''s party is still the largest in parliament. But opposition forces -- including the People First Party and the New Party -- strengthened their ability to block the ruling coalition''s plans.
"The moment we''ve waited for has finally arrived," The Associated Press quoted Nationalist leader Lien Chan as saying.
"Today we saw extremely clearly that all the people want stability in this country and want to continue to develop," Lien told a cheering, flag-waving crowd at his party headquarters.
In a televised speech, Chen said: "People have made their choices. Let''s take it as a starting point for cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties. Let''s turn our competition into a force for pushing the nation forward," AP reported.
The result is likely to come as a relief to Beijing, which has been angry about Chen''s pro-independence stance.
Chen had urged voters to make history by giving his coalition control of the legislature for the first time -- a move that would have further increased tensions with China.
Some observers saw the vote as a referendum on the president''s attempts to assert independence from China -- which claims that self-governed Taiwan is Chinese territory and must eventually accept Beijing''s rule.
For the last four years, the opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, and its allies have controlled the legislature, causing domestic gridlock and restraining Chen''s ambitions.
Saturday''s vote was the first since Chen narrowly won re-election in the March presidential poll.
The president had said he would push for radical changes if his party took control of parliament. Chief among those changes would have been a new constitution -- a step Beijing explicitly has warned could lead to war.
Turnout was high, with an estimated 65 percent of Taiwan''s 15 million eligible voters going to the polls.
After casting his ballot, Chen didn''t mention China, but he promised his party would bring stability and unity to Taiwan.
"This is a historic day. I believe Taiwan''s 23 million people will use a democratic vote to change Taiwan''s history," AP quoted Chen as saying.
People First Party leader James Soong had said he was confident his party would do well. "I hope this election can restore the society''s peace and quiet," he said after voting.
Chen''s DPP had predicted that its coalition would win a slight majority of 113 seats, pledging to streamline government and make it more efficient.
He also predicted Chinese leaders would stop rejecting his calls for talks because they would realize he was a political force to be reckoned with.
Chen had promised to change the name of state-run firms like China Airlines so they use "Taiwan" -- and do the same with the island''s offices in dozens of countries that have official diplomatic ties with Beijing, including the United States.
The Bush administration has feared that Chen would upset the delicate status quo between Taiwan and China and prompt Beijing to make good on its threat to use force to prevent Taiwan from becoming independent.
"These changes of terminologies for government-controlled enterprises or economic and cultural offices, in our view, would appear to unilaterally change Taiwan''s status, and for that reason we''re not supportive of them," U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli has said.
As Taiwan''s most important ally and the main source of weapons for the island''s armed forces, U.S. officials hoped Chen would get what is, by diplomatic standards, an exceptionally blunt message.
Instead he accused Washington of doing Beijing''s bidding and declared, "I refuse to compromise."
Diplomats and political analysts say U.S. President George W. Bush -- who has been preoccupied with Iraq -- is not pleased.
"The president himself is frankly more than a little irritated and would like to see a lot of cooperation from Taiwan," Kenneth Lieberthal of the Brooking Institution has said.
independent n.中立派, 无党派者
adj.独立自主的, 不受约束的
predict v.预知, 预言, 预报
Associated Press [美]联合通讯社(简称美联社)
associated press n.美联社
reckon with v.和...算帐, 认真对付
