World News

Taiwan president agrees to vote recount

TAIPEI (AP) - Taiwan's leader, Chen Shui-bian, appeared in public March 23 for the first time since his disputed re-election victory, and called for a vote recount that he promised to accept "100 percent."

Chen's challenger, Lien Chan, insists that there were many irregularities in the election process, though he has provided little evidence to prove this.

Lien has also suggested that the mysterious shooting that lightly wounded Chen one day before the polls may have been staged to gain sympathy votes.

Lien has demanded that the president set up an independent task force with both foreign and local experts to investigate the shooting. Police have yet to identify suspects or other important leads.

The president, who campaigned on a platform of standing up to rival China, won the vote with only 50.1 percent of the ballots, while challenger Lien, who pushed a more conciliatory approach toward mainland leaders, got 49.9 percent.

The election also involved Taiwan's first islandwide referendum: a vote that focused on China's military threat and possible peace talks with Beijing. The referendum, led by Chen, did not pass because more than half the voters joined an opposition-led boycott of the vote.

China's official Xinhua News Agency supported the opposition and accused Chen of "political fraud" and trying to "kidnap the will of the Taiwanese people" with the referendum. Chinese leaders suspect that Chen's referendum was just a warm-up for a vote on a permanent split from China.

Shukan ST: April 2, 2004

(C) All rights reserved