» 01/02/2012 16:33 TAIWAN – UNITED STATES US taking side in Taiwan’s presidential elections Although indirectly, Washington is choosing President Ma Ying-jeou as its candidate by stepping up official visits and announcing possible easing of visa requirements for travel to the United States. The US denies the allegation but the timing says otherwise.
Taipei (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A few days before Taiwan goes to the polls in presidential elections on 14 January, Washington has stepped up official visits and hinted at the possibility of visa-free travel to the United States.
For some analysts, the Americans are trying to influence the vote in favour of outgoing Kuomintang (Nationalist) President Ma Ying-jeou, who is seen as pro-Beijing. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Tsai Ing-wen is Ma’s main challenger.
Surveys indicate that the race is a dead heat, even though Ma can count on the mainland’s backing and now on US benevolence.
For its part, Washington has denied the allegations. "The United States does not interfere in foreign elections," said Sheila Paskman, spokeswoman at the American Institute in Taiwan (the US de facto embassy in Taipei). "And that includes Taiwan's."
However, the timing of the visa announcement just a few weeks before the 14 January poll "carried political connotations,” said Edward Chen, a political scientist at Taipei's Tamkang University.
Beijing is also closely following Taiwan’s elections.
In 2008, after eight years under DPP President Chen Shui-bien, who is currently in prison on dubious corruption charges, former Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou won the elections under the Kuomintang banner.
Unlike his predecessor, Ma began a policy of rapprochement with the mainland, signing a free trade agreement. He also refrained from talking about independence, something that was met with a sign of relief in Washington, which is bound to defend the island in case of attack.
Taiwan has been de facto independent since 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek moved his government from the mainland to the island. Recognised as the government of the Republic of China until the 1970s, Taiwan lost its UN seat to the People’s Republic in 1971.
For Beijing, the island remains a rebel province that must be brought into the national fold. For this reason, it has warned the world not to intervene in the issue.
