HONG KONG -- With the Taiwan presidential election less than three months away, the behavior of the incumbent, President Chen Shui-bian, and that of the opposition Kuomintang candidate, Lien Chan, shows just how much things have changed in the last decade.
Whereas in 1992 about 45 percent of the population considered themselves Chinese rather than Taiwanese, only 9 percent now identify themselves as Chinese. By contrast, a recent survey by the China Times shows that 50 percent now consider themselves as exclusively Taiwanese rather than Chinese. This is a major shift in the political landscape and the trend is likely to continue.
That to a large extent explains the antics of Chen, who has been playing to growing independence sentiment by proposing a referendum urging the removal of the hundreds of missiles on the China coast aimed at Taiwan as well as the draft of a new constitution.