It appears that with the forthcoming March 22, 2008 presidential election that, no matter who wins, there will be a push for closer ties with mainland China. Thus Taiwan will shift in the opposite direction from which the outgoing president Chen Shui-bian has been moving. Chen had gone so far as to put a referendum on the ballot to determine if Taiwan should apply for membership in the United Nations under its own name rather than the Republic of China.
According to the International Herald-Tribune, the two candidates, Ma Ying-jeou and Frank Hsieh have campaigned on bringing Taiwan closer to China and away from separatism. They differ on the degree of closeness and to the timing. After the election it is expected that the Taiwanese government will move to defuse the tensions that have been raised by Chen.
Ma represents the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang, while Hsieh represents the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of outgoing President Chen. Ma is currently favored to win the election. Hsieh campaigned in the shadow of Chen, whose second term has been rocked by scandal. It is further expected that if Ma is elected rapport with China will likely move forward more rapidly.
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