Ma under pressure to step down

The result of Taiwan's local elections will not have a fundamental impact on the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, despite the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party's landslide defeat, analysts said Sunday.

Saturday's island-wide elections were considered a mid-term test for the KMT ahead of the region's leadership election in 2016.

Pressure has mounted on Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou to step down as chairman of the island's ruling party, after Jiang Yi-huah, Taiwan chief administrator, resigned Saturday, saying he took responsibility for the overwhelming defeat.

KMT spokesperson Chen Yi-hsin on Sunday denied speculation that Ma will resign as party chief, but stressed that Ma "will not cling to power" and will shoulder responsibility for the defeat. He added that Ma would make a "major announcement" at a meeting of the party's central standing committee on Wednesday.

In Taiwan's "nine-in-one elections," the KMT won only six out of 22 seats for city and county heads, far fewer than the 15 it won in the previous election four years ago.

It also lost control of its traditional strongholds in the major cities of Taipei and Taichung.

The main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) clinched 13 seats, while the remaining three went to independent candidates.

The elections are the biggest in Taiwan's history, involving nearly 20,000 candidates running for nine levels of 11,130 local government and legislative positions to be selected by some 18.5 million registered voters. Taiwan's Central Election Commission said voter turnout was around 65-70 percent.

The positions ranged from mayoral and legislator seats in Taiwan's largest municipalities and counties to chiefs of townships and villages.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, responded late Saturday that the mainland has been watching the result of this election. He called on people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to cherish the "hard-won fruits" in their ties, and to continue promoting peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.

Cross-Straits relations have warmed since Ma came to power in 2008, leading to a tourist boom of mainland visitors to Taiwan and expanded trade links. But the KMT's latest election defeat may bring the opposition DPP back to power and cause cross-Straits ties to regress, Hu Shiqing, a researcher at the Taiwan Studies Institute of the China Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

"Progress in cross-Straits relations will at least be stalled [if the DPP wins in 2016]," said Hu. "While the current governing KMT recognizes the 'one China' stance and emphasizes the Chinese mainland's importance to Taiwan's economic development, the DPP has advocated closer economic ties with the US, Japan and Europe to balance the Chinese mainland's influence on Taiwan."

However, others believe cross-Straits relations will not be fundamentally impacted despite the recent election result.

"Cross-Straits relations will not experience a major change until 2016. Despite [the DPP's expanded power in local governments], it has adjusted its attitude toward the Chinese mainland for a more practical approach, as most of the Taiwan public doesn't wish for a radical change in cross-Straits relations," Li He, a deputy director of the Beijing-based National Society of Taiwan Studies, told the Global Times.

Chiu Yi, a former KMT legislator, warned of the lingering influence of student protests in Taiwan in March against a cross-Straits trade pact and its impact on the island's economic and political future.

"The DPP is not likely to support the trade pact. The stalled progress in the trade talks will deliver a huge blow to Taiwan's economy. Taiwan's competitiveness will greatly diminish, especially after China and South Korea sign a free trade agreement," Chiu told the Global Times.

China and South Korea announced earlier in November that they have finished negotiations on a free trade agreement and were close to signing the pact, media reports said.

The Chinese mainland is Taiwan's largest trading partner, and the two sides signed an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010. Protests on the island erupted after a follow-up deal was announced to open up service sectors between the two sides.