106 chapter four

Chapter four

The 1996 Presidential Election and the Taiwan Straits Crisis

In the early 1990s, as noted in the previous chapter, many people doubted that Taiwan was ready for the direct popular election of the president. In 1992, the decision was put off until 1995, but in fact consensus was reached by mid-1994 when the relevant constitutional amendments were approved. Thus, the first direct election of Taiwan’s president took place on March 23, 1996. Because the Chinese attempted to influence Taiwan’s voters through military threats, the simultaneous Taiwan Straits Crisis received huge international attention. The chapter concludes with an analysis of polls that demonstrate Chinese actions proved counter-pro- ductive. The direct popular election of the president in Taiwan was a momen- tous political event. While it is difficult to accept the oft-repeated boast that the election was “the first popular election of a head of state in [the] five thousand years [of Chinese history],” it was the first such election in an area with significant Chinese cultural influence. The Taiwan election also set new standards internationally. In the United States, the presiden- tial election is for an electoral college that sometimes distorts the will of the people. In parliamentary systems, voters choose their own member of parliament, not the national leader. In a Taiwan presidential election, each voter is equal. No special weighting is given to particular sub-units or to ethnicities.

The Party Nominations

The actual electoral process took place over a lengthy period. The main parties had to choose their candidates, a process that extended back into mid-1995. In the end, four tickets ultimately contested the election. The most complicated nomination process took place within the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Four DPP members competed for the presidential nomination: Peng Ming-min 彭明敏, Hsu Hsin-liang 許 信良, Lin I-hsiung 林義雄 and Yu Ching 尤清. On June 11, 1995, the DPP the 1996 presidential election 107 implemented the first stage of its nomination process—voting both by party members and by party cadres. All four candidates participated in a televised debate. Hsu Hsin-liang obtained 9,138 votes from the members as well as 59 cadre votes, while Peng Ming-min won 11,006 votes from party members and 39 cadre votes. These two candidates went to the sec- ond stage. The second stage allowed all Taiwan voters to participate. Beginning in Taitung on July 10, 1995, Hsu and Peng conducted 49 debates in all of Taiwan’s twenty-three counties and municipalities. After each debate, citizens could vote by just presenting their identity card. On September 24, the DPP announced the Peng Ming-min had obtained the DPP nomi- nation for president. Two days later, Peng announced that Frank Hsieh (Hsieh Chang-ting 謝長廷) would be his vice-presidential running mate.1 The KMT nomination process proved simpler. Party Congress repre- sentatives signed a petition for Lee Teng-hui 李登煇 to run. After the KMT party primary in which Lee Teng-hui obtained 1637 votes or 91 per cent, Lee was declared the KMT presidential nominee on August 31, 1995. He then announced that Lien Chan 連戰 would be his vice-presidential running mate.2 The New Party process took longer and was more indirect. Originally, Wang Chien-shien 王建煊, a Mainlander who served as Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1992 and then gained a legislative seat at the end of 1992, wanted to run as nominee of the New Party. However, Lin Yang- kang 林洋港 and Hau Pei-tsun 郝柏村, both Vice-Chairmen of the KMT, had clearly helped New Party candidates in the December 2, 1995 legisla- tive election and were running as a ticket in the presidential election seeking candidacy through a citizens’ petition campaign.3 On December 9, Wang pulled out of the presidential race and the New Party then fully supported the Lin-Hau ticket even though both candidates were still members of the KMT.4 In an open letter to KMT party comrades, Lin and Hau attacked Lee Teng-hui’s emphasis on Taiwan and accused Lee of leading the KMT down the wrong path. They concluded, “We swear that we will unite

1 Zhang Fuzhong 張富忠 and Qiu Wanxing 邱萬興, Lüse niandai II, pp. 220–221. 2 Ibid., pp. 216, 232. 3 For an example of an advertisement supporting the petition campaign, see Ziyou shibao 自由時報 [Liberty Times], December 7, 1995, p. 12. The petition campaign ran from November 30, 1995 to January 13, 1996. 4 See press of December 10, 1995.