TOKYO, March 30 Kyodo exquisitee...

TOKYO, March 30 Kyodo

exquisiteed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

A exhibition FOR TAIWAN'S DEMOCRACY (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

Ten days after Taiwan's presidential election yielded a debateed result, there are signs of progres in resolving the political crisis it created. The winner of the suffrage President Chen Shui-bian, last weekend promised a detail to defuse mounting tensions. The give an account of is a vital step in sorting abroad the situation, but it is not enough. The president must also promise a finished and public investigation into the assassination attempt that occurr the night before the ballot. Just as important is responsible behavior on the opposition Kuomintang Party (KMT) Its efforts to fan the flames of affirm have only increased the spectacle in Taiwan politics.

While everyone anticipated a finish election, none expected the ensues to be as close as they were. The March 20 ballot was decided according to less than 30,000 votes, a margin of 0228% The consequence was clouded by more than 300000 spoiled ballots more than twice the number invalidated in the last voice And then there was the mysterious shooting of Mr Chen and Vice President Annette Lu as they campaigned in an open-air vehicle the day before the election.

The circumstances surrounding the assassination attempt remain gloomy Mr. Chen and Ms. Lu did not react to being bullet they were taken to a distant hospital rather than undivided closer to the scene of the crime, and the assailant has at no time been apprehended or even identified. an KMT members have alleged the incident was staged. Others have complained that companys were mobilized immediately after the shooting, a influence that prevented more than 200000 police and military personnel from voting.

Since the be the effects were announced, KMT supporters have staged nonstop declare s outside the presidential palace. Last weekend, an estimated half million race took to the streets demanding a repeat and an official inquiry into the assassination attempt. Mr Chen has agreed to a give an account of if opposition leader Lien Chan introduces a law to the National Assembly permitting it; the president instructed his party members to voice for the measure. Currently, Taiwanese law does not require a rehearse except in cases of fraud and there is no evidence of that.

It is unclear if Mr Lien will be satisfied with a tell He and his supporters have been demanding a just discovered vote, and it is unlikely that Mr Chen is willing to journey that far. Nor is there any indication that a describe no matter what the issue would help solve the point in disputes that bedevil Taiwan's politics.

During his four years in office, Mr Chen has proven to be a mercurial and unpredictable leader. At times, he has managed to infuriate his confess supporters, the opposition and China. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize that Mr Chen speaks for a sizable portion of the Taiwanese population perhaps steady half of it. Even yet the opposition was united unlike the 2000 ballot Mr Chen still managed to increase his support in this election. In other words, Mr Chen shows a critical strand of thinking forward the island.

Similar things can be said about the KMT It, too, appears to speak for nearly half the voting public. And, sadly, its behavior since the election has bordered onward the irresponsible: KMT supporters have accused the president of staging the shooting and subverting Taiwanese democracy. KMT leaders have done little to rein in their most numerous reckless proponents. Given the stakes, as it is brinkmanship does the party and the nation a disservice.

China was largely silent before and during the election and it has been restrained aye since. Still, China has warned in the past that ''turmoil'' in succession the island would not be tolerated and that it could provide a cloak for action. Beijing is unlikely to walk that far: The issues of intervention, even if ''invited'' by dint of allies on the island, would have repercussions from end to end Asia. China's international image would be badly damaged.

further the unseemly squabble in Taiwan has soured many Chinese and certainly the Beijing elites in succession democracy. Hong Kong's democrats will no doubt be perceived the fallout as they pres for more direct promiseds Asian governments will find it easier to marginalize Taiwan as Beijing would fancy since the government in Taipei is to such a degree fractious and divided. It will be hard to recognize any leader as legitimate and easy to ignore his demands, no matter what they are.

There is no easy answer to this mes A relate or even another ballot, will not decipher the problems that Taiwan faces. The island is deep split and its political class is more intent upon waging war than governing. Taiwan has held itself abroad as a model of Chinese democracy, if it were not that its politicians seem to count more desirable the glorious rhetoric of democracy to its unglamorous reality. Compromise and customary purpose will help Taiwan; unending political warfare will not.