MCLC: election stirs hope for democracy

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: election stirs hope for democracy
***********************************************************

Source: NYT (1/16/12):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/world/asia/taiwan-vote-stirs-chinese-hope
s-for-democracy.html

Taiwan Election Stirs Hopes Among Chinese for Democracy
By ANDREW JACOBS 

BEIJING ‹ There was another winner in the election this weekend that
handed President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan a second term in office ‹ the
faint but unmistakable clamor for democracy in China.

Thanks in large part to an uncharacteristically hands-off approach by
Chinese Internet censors, the campaign between Mr. Ma and his main
challenger was avidly followed by millions of mainland Chinese, who
consumed online tidbits of election news and biting commentary that they
then spit out far and wide through social media outlets.

As the election played out on Saturday, a palpable giddiness spread
through the Twitter-like microblog services that have as many as 250
million members. They marveled at how smoothly the voting went, how
graciously the loser, Tsai Ing-wen, conceded and how Mr. Ma gave his
victory speech in the rain without the benefit of an underling¹s umbrella
‹ in contrast with the pampering that Chinese officials often receive.

³It¹s all anyone on Weibo was talking about this weekend,² said Zhang
Ming, a political science professor at Renmin University in Beijing,
referring to Sina Weibo, China¹s most popular microblog service.

Users expressed barbed humor about their own unelected leaders ‹ and envy
over Taiwan¹s prodigious liberties ‹ but also deeply felt pride that their
putative compatriots pulled off a seamless election free of the violence
that marred previous campaigns in Taiwan, including a 2004 assassination
attempt against the president at the time, Chen Shui-bian.

³On the other side of the sea, Taiwan erected a mirror. And on this side
of the sea, we saw ourselves in the future,² read one well-forwarded
comment by Xu Wei, a wine expert.

The election, Taiwan¹s fifth since it traded authoritarian rule for
democracy in 1996, presented Chinese leaders with something of a
challenge. While the governing Communist Party has long sought to portray
democracy as unsuitable for the Chinese nation, it also considers Taiwan a
part of China ‹ despite a six-decade schism during which the island of 23
million has developed strongly held ideas about free speech and
self-determination.

To allow unfettered news media coverage of the race was out of the
question, but to strangle the news online of a major international story
might have provoked an uncomfortable backlash from China¹s increasingly
savvy Internet users. The result was schizophrenic: in contrast to the
relatively freewheeling commentary found on microblogs and Internet
portals, the official press provided spare and neutered coverage of the
balloting.

In its few dispatches on the race, the state¹s Xinhua news agency avoided
the words ³democracy² and ³president,² and it cast the contest as a local
election, in keeping with Beijing¹s stance that Taiwan is a breakaway
province.

Over all, Xinhua¹s reports have presented Mr. Ma¹s win as a validation of
Beijing¹s newfound cross-strait détente, which has led to reduced tensions
between the two governments while enriching Taiwan¹s economy with
increased trade and tourism. ³The people of Taiwan have used their votes
to express their desire for peace of mind, stability and development,²
Xinhua wrote.

As is typical for politically sensitive news events, Chinese newspapers
were instructed to run only Xinhua¹s account of the election, but many
editors appeared to make up for such constraints by running banner
headlines, splashy graphics and large photographs of a triumphant,
rain-soaked president. ³No one told us we couldn¹t put the election on our
front page, so that¹s what we did,² one editor of a large daily newspaper
said subversively.

David Bandurski, a researcher at Hong Kong University¹s China Media
Project, said the disparity in coverage between the state media and
privately owned Internet portals suggested that officials were still
unsure how to grapple with a rapidly evolving medium. ³The control regime,
if you call it that, is still trying to catch up,² he said. ³If their
approach is too stringent, they risk a blowback.²

For those who hanker for political reform, the momentary stasis was
welcome. An early opening arrived last month, when Chinese discovered they
were able to watch the presidential debate online. Just as impressive for
many were the campaign photographs that showed the candidates glad-handing
in public. One image that inspired a welter of favorable reaction was an
encounter between Mr. Ma and a peevish pork vendor who turned away in
disgust. ³At a time like this, one can really see who is the servant and
who is the master, and experience what a balanced system is,² wrote the
Chinese blogger Han Zhiguo.

Interest in the race snowballed in recent weeks and a number of
high-profile mainland businessmen decided to travel to Taiwan to see the
contest up close. Among them was Wang Shi, one of China¹s biggest real
estate tycoons, who sent out regular microblog dispatches from political
rallies. ³Everything went orderly and there were no surprises,² he wrote
over the weekend to his four million followers. ³The political environment
has really matured.²

Another mainland businessman who spent several days in Taiwan said the
election had a profound impact on his understanding of politics. Seated on
a plane bound for Beijing on Sunday night, he described how he had been
led to believe that Taiwan¹s democracy was chaotic and shallow, its
elections prone to violence. Not anymore, he said.
³This is an amazing idea, to be able to choose the people who represent
you,² said the man, who asked to remain nameless so he could speak without
restraint. ³I think democracy will come to China. It¹s only a matter of
time.²

But it seems the most telling commentary on the election was a joke that
had been forwarded thousands of times in recent days. A Taiwanese man
brags to his Chinese friend that he will go to the polls in the morning
and know the results that evening. ³You guys are too backward,² the
Chinese friend responds. ³If we had to vote tomorrow morning, we would
already know who is elected by tonight.²

Li Bibo contributed research.