Presidential elections were held on 18 March 2000 to elect the
president
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* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
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and
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. With a
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...
of 82.69%,
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
and
Annette Lu
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...
of the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were elected president and vice president respectively with a slight plurality.
This election ended more than half a century of
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
(KMT) rule on the island, during which it had governed as a
one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
since the
retreat of the government from the Chinese mainland during the closing stages of the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
in 1949. This was also the first time in
Chinese history that a ruling political party
peacefully transferred power
A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This may be after elections or during t ...
to an opposition party under a democratic system. The nominees included the then-current vice president
Lien Chan
Lien Chan (; born 27 August 1936) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 20 ...
for the KMT, former provincial governor
James Soong
James Soong Chu-yu (born 16 March 1942) is a Taiwanese politician. He is the founder and current Chairman of the People First Party.
Born to a Kuomintang military family of Hunanese origin, Soong began his political career as a secretary to ...
as an independent candidate (upon his loss of the KMT nomination), and former Taipei
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
Chen Shui-bian for the DPP.
Controversy arose throughout the course of the election; in particular, the candidacy of James Soong was beset by accusations of splitting the Kuomintang vote and involvement in corruption during the presidency of
Lee Teng-hui, culminating in protests and the expulsion of the latter from the Kuomintang, while Chen's campaign attracted criticism from neighboring China due to his party's traditionally pro-independence stance. The issues of corruption and cross-strait relations were dominant during this election. Chen's victory was initially seen as unlikely, but several compounded effects like the splitting of the Kuomintang vote and the aforementioned controversies are seen as having led to his victory. Chen performed most strongly in the southern part of Taiwan, while Soong tended to win in northern areas.
Candidates and platforms
Kuomintang
The ruling
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
(KMT) ran vice president
Lien Chan
Lien Chan (; born 27 August 1936) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government from 1990 to 1993, Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 20 ...
for president and
Premier Vincent Siew
Vincent C. Siew or Siew Wan-chang (; born 3 January 1939) is a Taiwanese politician who served as the Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2008 to 2012. He was the first Taiwanese-born Premier of the Republic of China and former ...
for vice president.
Both were career civil servants and Lien, originating from the Taiwanese aristocracy, was seen as aloof and unable to empathize with the common people.
Though more popular and consistently ranked higher in the polls, the outspoken former
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
governor
James Soong
James Soong Chu-yu (born 16 March 1942) is a Taiwanese politician. He is the founder and current Chairman of the People First Party.
Born to a Kuomintang military family of Hunanese origin, Soong began his political career as a secretary to ...
failed to gain the Kuomintang's nomination. As a result, he announced his candidacy as an independent candidate. The Kuomintang responded by expelling Soong in November 1999.
It is a very common belief among KMT supporters that president
Lee Teng-hui was secretly supporting Chen Shui-bian, and purposely supported the less popular Lien in order to split the Kuomintang,
and this belief was given a great deal of credibility after the 2000 election with Lee's defection to the
Pan-Green coalition
The pan-Green coalition, pan-Green force or pan-Green groups is a nationalist political coalition in Taiwan (Republic of China), consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP), Taiwan Solidarity Union ...
, though Lee's defection came only after his expulsion by the KMT.
Soong, a
mainlander, tried to appeal to the native Taiwanese by nominating surgeon
Chang Chao-hsiung
Chang Chau-hsiung (; born 3 February 1942) is a Taiwanese physician and politician. He has served as the vice-chairman of People First Party since 2000.
Early life
Born in Takao Prefecture, Taiwan, Empire of Japan, Chang was a physician who gra ...
, who is a native Taiwanese, as his running-mate. This, combined with the fact that Chang had connections to both the
Democratic Progressive Party and the KMT reinforced Soong's campaign message of bridging political and cultural divide.
In December 1999, the KMT began to attack Soong's integrity. They sued Soong for theft, alleging that as party secretary-general, he stole millions of Taiwan dollars in cash
intended for the family of the late president
Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government ...
and hid the money in the Chunghsing Bills Finance Co.
Soong defended himself by saying he was acting under Lee's direction,
though Lee denied this and many found the explanation unconvincing. Initially holding a commanding lead in the polls,
Soong ended up losing by just over 300,000 votes.
Both candidates had some obstacles presenting themselves as reform candidates with regard to corruption, given their high rank in the Kuomintang government. Soong's strategy was to openly admit his past wrongdoing and present his insider status as an advantage: i.e. that he could most easily tackle the corruption because of his experience with it; however, many saw his credibility as a reformer as broken by his financial scandal. Lien advocated for reform, but had some difficulty in direct criticism as such attacks may have offended the ruling government; this is thought to have contributed to his defeat.
Democratic Progressive Party
The DPP ran former
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
mayor Chen Shui-bian and
Taoyuan County
Taoyuan County () is under the administration of Changde, Hunan Province, China. The Yuan River, a tributary of the Yangtze, flows through Taoyuan. It covers an area of 4441 square kilometers, of which is arable land. It is from Zhangjiang To ...
magistrate
Annette Lu
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien (; born 7 June 1944) is a Taiwanese politician. A feminist active in the tangwai movement, she joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 1990, and was elected to the Legislative Yuan in 1992. Subsequently, she served as Ta ...
for vice president.
Having run for the
1996 election on a radical independence platform and lost by a landslide,
the DPP in May 1999 moderated its stance by issuing the "Resolution on the Future of Taiwan".
The resolution accepted the status quo and promoted the moderate view that Taiwan was already independent, so any formal declaration would not be urgently necessary, if at all,
and Chen presented a more conciliatory stance regarding the mainland.
Also included was the pledge that any change in Taiwan's international status will have to be done through a referendum,
thus alleviating the fear that, if elected, a DPP government would unilaterally declare independence without popular approval. The Chen-Lu ticket also promised to be more aggressive in fighting
black gold,
a system of connections and corruption which had become intertwined with the KMT. The last minute public endorsement of Chen Shui-bian by President of the
Academia Sinica and Nobel laureate
Yuan T. Lee is also thought to have played a role in his election,
with Yuan T. Lee offering to negotiate with the PRC on Taiwan's behalf.
Other candidates
All independent presidential tickets were required to turn in a petition of 224,000 names to the
Central Election Commission to confirm their candidacy and appear on the ballot.
Former DPP Chairman
Hsu Hsin-liang
Hsu Hsin-liang (; born 27 May 1941) is a Taiwanese politician, formerly Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He was a supporter of the Pan-Blue Coalition from 2000 to 2008 but then supported the DPP in the 2008 presidential elect ...
, who had quit the party after failing to prevent Chen from running, ran as an independent with
New Party (NP) legislator
Josephine Chu
Josephine Chu (; born 16 December 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician. She served in the Legislative Yuan from 1996 to 2002. Chu and Hsu Hsin-liang formed an independent ticket in the 2000 presidential election, finishing fourth.
Early lif ...
as his running mate.
As DPP Chairman, Hsu had moderated the platform of the party, promoting reconciliation with the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and the opening of direct links,
a move not then supported by the KMT. During the 2000 campaign, the Hsu-Chu ticket promoted unification under something similar to, but not the same as, '
one country, two systems', claiming that that exact system would be "bound to bring immediate loss to Taiwan".
The New Party nominated independent social commentator
Li Ao
Li Ao (, also spelled Lee Ao; 25 April 1935 – 18 March 2018) was a Chinese writer, social commentator, historian and independent politician based in Taiwan.
Li has been called one of the most important modern East Asian essayists today; his ...
—an acclaimed author, historian, and former political prisoner—for president and legislator
Elmer Fung for vice president.
Li, who supported "one country, two systems", said he took the election as an opportunity to educate the people in Taiwan on his ideas, and show them the nation's "dark side". Despite his nomination Li refused to join the NP.
Both he and the NP publicly encouraged people to vote for James Soong to the point of stating during the televised presidential debates that he was not planning to vote for himself and that people should vote for Soong so that the pro-unification vote would not be split.
A white paper issued by the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(PRC) prior to the election had mentioned that they would "not permit the 'Taiwan question' to drag on", which generated condemnation from American leaders, including
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
and
Stanley Roth; along with a downturn in the stock market, but little in terms of a Taiwanese reaction. Then, shortly before the election,
Zhu Rongji
Zhu Rongji (; IPA: ; born 23 October 1928) is a retired Chinese politician who served as Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1998 to 2003 and CCP Politburo Standing Committee member from 1992 to 2002 along with the Chinese Communist ...
, the premier of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
attempted to influence the outcome, warning that voters should "not just act on impulse at this juncture, which will decide the future course that China and Taiwan will follow" and should "shun a pro-independence candidate", further stating that "
matter who comes into power in Taiwan, Taiwan will never be allowed to be independent. This is our bottom line and the will of 1.25 billion Chinese people."
According to Christopher R. Hughes, emeritus professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, a conclusion was made that the statements of Chinese government had actually been counterproductive and helped Chen to win;
consequently, China avoided making such an open attempt to influence the 2004 elections, adopting a "wait and see" attitude with Chen.
Results
Voting was held on 18 March 2000.
The Soong-Chang ticket appeared first on the ballot, followed by the Kuomintang's Lien and Siew, then two independent tickets, Li-Fung and Hsu-Chu. The eventual winning DPP ticket of Chen and Lu were listed fifth. Chen's ticket won by a margin of about 2.46%, ahead of Soong in second place and Chan in third.
Generally, the Soong ticket led in the northern half of Taiwan, while the Chen ticket led in the south; however, there were exceptions, including
Yilan County in the north, whose vote Chen won, and
Taitung County in the south, whose vote Soong won.
By county and city
Maps
Aftermath
Chen's victory was seen as unlikely before Soong's financial scandal broke out. Under the
first-past-the-post voting
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
system, the split of the KMT vote between James Soong and Lien Chan, who together polled nearly 60% of the vote (compared to Chen's 39%), played a large role in the
Taiwan independence-leaning candidate Chen's victory.
Soong Chu-yu's financial scandals, Nobel laureate
Lee Yuan-tseh's endorsement, and arguably the last minute saber-rattling by the PRC tipped the balance to Chen's favor.
Chen's victory marked the first time since the retreat from the mainland that a party other than the KMT won the presidency, ending 50 years of rule by the latter, which was partly under a one-party state. This also marked the first peaceful transition of power under a democratic regime in Chinese history.
As the results were announced, several thousand protesters, mostly KMT loyalists who believed Lee Teng-hui had intentionally tried to sabotage the pro-unification vote, gathered outside the KMT headquarters in Taipei and demanded Lee resign as Chairman.
Lee promised to resign at the party congress in September 2000.
Though the protest was without permit, the government did not order an end to it,
though Taipei mayor
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei fro ...
attempted to dispel the crowd on the first night.
The protesters blocked the entrances to the building and kept Lee holed in his office for hours until riot police with water cannon were able to open a path for the motorcade.
Protesters also dragged presidential advisor
Hsu Li-teh out of his car and beat him.
The protests ended in success on March 24 when Lee resigned as KMT Chairman and was replaced by Lien. Ma Ying-jeou also resigned from the Central Standing Committee of the KMT as a result of his dissatisfaction with the leadership at the time, calling for reform.
On the day of the election, Soong announced the formation of the
People First Party before a crowd of his supporters, though he urged calm and the avoidance of "bloodshed".
In the following party congress, Lien Chan was able to achieve Lee's expulsion
and began to move the party back towards a unificationist platform. Lee and his supporters later formed the radical pro-independence
Taiwan Solidarity Union
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) is a political party in Taiwan which advocates Taiwan independence, and is affiliated with the Taiwanese localization movement. It was officially founded on 12 August 2001 and is considered part of the Pan-G ...
.
Lee was expelled from KMT on 21 September 2001, the first party chairman thus far to have membership revoked. To avoid a repeat of the 2000 split, Lien and Soong agreed to run on a single ticket as president and vice president, respectively, in the
2004 election. They made the announcement on 14 February 2003, more than a year before the next presidential election.
Nevertheless, they were still defeated by Chen Shui-bian in the next election.
Some authors, including John Fuh-hsieng Hsieh and Shelley Rigger, surmised that Chen Shui-bian's ascent to the presidency was not as groundbreaking as might be thought: the presidency's supposed power was largely drawn from the power a KMT leader would have when both the legislature and the presidency were controlled by the party, but the government of Taiwan was largely dominated by the legislative branch, which remained under the control of the KMT. As such, Chen ascended into a relatively weak presidency. Consequently, Chen's first cabinet consisted of some KMT members along with DPP members.
However, after the
legislative elections in 2001, Chen was expected to be able to exert more influence, due to the KMT's loss of a majority. Chen's more pro-independence stance initially caused concerns on behalf of the United States to raise such that they sent senior officials to the PRC to ease tensions.
Tensions later relaxed, though a somewhat rocky relationship remained.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Presidential elections in Taiwan
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