雷默时评：马英九赢得台湾2008年总统选举

根据PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer 38 minutes ago 报道，马英九赢得58%选票，民进党41.5%。

笔者过去几年在美国芝加哥、费城、洛杉矶、旧金山、大溪城、底特律等各地接触来自台湾的人士，都一直谴责民进党挑动族群意识，促使台湾分化，不得人心。因此，当2008年大选的时候，旅居美国的台湾朋友纷纷坐飞机返回台湾挺马！如今民进党的不得民心已经在选票上体现出来。

没有真正的分权，就没有真正的宪法；没有真正的竞选，就没有真正的选举；没有真正的选举，就没有合法的政权。这是现代民主政治学公认的格言。

我们当为台湾的民主政治感恩。国民党经过这些年的卧薪尝胆，如今重振雄风；民进党经过这次的失败也当反躬自问，吸取教训，准备东山再起。台湾初具模式的两党政治说明，宪政民主并不是西方才能运行的模式！

宪政民主在台湾的运行，对亚洲一切热爱自由和民主的人，都是一个极大的鼓励；对于一切利用种种借口阻挠民主进程的人，都是一个严厉的斥责和挑战！

 

Opposition wins Taiwan presidential vote

By PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer 38 minutes ago

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan's opposition candidate cruised to victory in the presidential election Saturday, promising to expand economic ties with China while protecting the island from being swallowed up politically by its giant communist neighbor.

Fireworks lit up the sky over Ma Ying-jeou's headquarters, and cheering supporters put up victory posters before the former Taipei mayor climbed on stage and declared victory.

"People want a clean a government instead of a corrupt one," said Ma, also a former justice minister. "They want a good economy, not a sluggish one. They don't want political feuding. They want peace across the Taiwan Strait. No war."

Across town, a crying crowd gathered at the campaign office for ruling party candidate Frank Hsieh, a former premier.

"Don't cry for me today," Hsieh said in his concession speech. "Although we lost the election, we have a more important mission. The torch of democracy should not be extinguished."

Ma won 58 percent of the votes compared to 41.5 percent for his challenger, according to the Central Election Commission. Turnout was 76 percent, the commission said.

Ma and Hsieh have both said they want a less confrontational relationship with China. But they were divided on how best to deal with Beijing, which presents both a huge opportunity for the island's powerful business community and a looming threat to its evolving democracy.

Taiwan and the mainland split amid civil war in 1949, but China still considers the island to be part of its territory. Beijing has threatened to attack if Taiwan rejects unification and seeks a permanent break.

The Central Election Commission also said two referendums calling on the government to work for the island's entry into the United Nations failed. China had warned that the referendums threatened stability in the region.

Ma has based his campaign on promises to reverse the pro-independence direction of outgoing President Chen Shui-bian and leverage China's white-hot economic boom to re-energize Taiwan's ailing high-tech economy.

He has proposed a formal peace treaty with Beijing that would demilitarize the Taiwan Strait, 100-mile-wide waterway that separates the two heavily armed sides. But he has drawn the line at unification, promising it would not be discussed during his presidency.

Economically, he wants to lower barriers to Taiwanese investment on the mainland — it already amounts to more than $100 billion — and begin direct air and maritime links between the sides.

Ma is particularly interested in expanding the China-Taiwan high-tech connection, which every year sends billions of dollars' worth of Taiwan's advanced components to low-cost assembly plants along China's rapidly developing east coast.

That interest resonated with businessman Wang Wen-ho, who cast his ballot for Ma at a Taipei high school.

"The DPP has failed to cope with China's growth in eight years," he said. "We need to engage the mainland to improve the economy."

But George Tsai of Taipei's Chinese Culture University said improved relations with China will likely come slowly.

"Even if Ma can manage to resume cross-strait dialogue and build mutual trust with Beijing, it probably will not happen in the first two years," Tsai said.

Hsieh has accepted his party's independence platform, but without the special vehemence of Chen, whose support for separatist policies constantly incensed China and caused grave concern in the United States, Taiwan's most important foreign partner.

Hsieh's party had used the last day of campaigning to fan outrage over China's handling of protests in Tibet, warning the crackdown could be replicated in Taiwan.

He also had warned voters that if he loses, Ma's party will control both the presidency and the legislature, creating a dangerous imbalance of power.

Taipei voter Chen Wei-ting, a 32-year-old banker, shared the same concern and voted for Hsieh. "I'm worried that if one party had the legislature and presidency, there could be a lot of trouble."