1996 Taiwanese presidential election

Template:Short description Template:Infobox electionPresidential elections were held in Taiwan on 23 March 1996.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was Taiwan's first direct presidential election, officially the Republic of China. In the previous eight elections, the president and vice president had been chosen in a ballot of the deputies of the National Assembly, in accordance with the 1947 constitution. These were the first free and direct elections in the history of Taiwan.

Lee Teng-hui was re-elected President, and Lien Chan as Vice President. Lee stood as the candidate for the ruling Kuomintang. He won a majority of 54% of the votes cast. His election followed missile tests by the People's Republic of China (PRC). These attempted to intimidate and discourage the Taiwanese electorate from supporting Lee; however, the tactic backfired. Voter turnout was 76.0%.<ref>Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p558 Template:ISBN</ref>

Candidates

The ruling Kuomintang nominated President Lee Teng-hui in August 1995 at its 14th Party Congress after plans to institute a closed primary system by his opponents were thwarted.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As his running mate, Lee chose Lien Chan, who had attempted to resign as Premier of the Republic of China, to join Lee's ticket.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Lee did not accept Lien's resignation, as Lien's potential successors to the premiership stood little chance of legislative confirmation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After the election, the Judicial Yuan allowed Lien to keep both posts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party conducted an extensive nomination process: the presidential candidate was selected after two rounds of voting and fifty public debates between the two finalists. Hsu Hsin-liang, Lin Yi-hsiung, You Ching, and Peng Ming-min contended for this position. The seventy-two-year-old Peng emerged victorious and nominated legislator Frank Hsieh as his running mate. Peng opposed trade with mainland China unless the PRC promised to "treat Taiwan as an equal." Though he argued that the One-China policy would lead to another February 28 Incident, he took the position that Taiwan was already de facto independent, so a formal declaration of Taiwan independence was unnecessary unless the PRC attacked. However, Peng rejected unification with the mainland outright, describing the notion as "suicide" and "self-destruction."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Former Taiwan Provincial Governor Lin Yang-kang ran independently with former Premier Hau Pei-tsun as his running mate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After the pair registered as candidates, they were endorsed by the New Party. Both Lin and Hau were expelled from the Kuomintang on 13 December 1995.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> They supported the One-China principle and favored opening direct links with the mainland.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They argued that the KMT, led by Lee, had abandoned all attempts at unification.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A second independent ticket consisted of former Control Yuan President Chen Li-an for President and Control Yuan member Wang Ching-feng for Vice President. Chen Li-an, the son of former Premier and Vice President Chen Cheng, used his Buddhist background (lay leader of the Fo Guang Shan order) and stressed moral purity and honest government. He walked wearing a farmer's straw hat for eighteen days to spread his views.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Former Taipei mayor Kao Yu-shu declared an end to his candidacy in January 1996.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Feminist writer Shih Chi-ching also bid for the presidency, selecting Wu Yue-chen as her vice president. However, Shih and Wu's campaign ended after the Judicial Yuan ruled against them, finding that the ticket failed to meet the endorsement quota.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Mudslinging was rampant between the remaining four presidential tickets. The KMT claimed that the Taiwanese mafia had amputated Peng's arm to recoup gambling debts. However, Peng had lost his arm in an American air raid on Nagasaki during World War II.<ref name="philly"/> Independent candidate Lin Yang-kang alleged that Lee Teng-hui was a member of the Chinese Communist Party, which he denied at the time, but later admitted involvement in a 2002 interview.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Kuomintang's website was also subject to cyberattacks. Chen Li-an criticized every other candidate for their advanced age.<ref name="philly">Template:Cite news</ref>

1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis

Template:Main From March 8 to March 15, the People's Liberation Army sent ballistic missiles within Template:Convert (just inside the ROC's territorial waters) off the ports of Keelung and Kaohsiung. This action was intended to intimidate the Taiwanese electorate into voting against Lee and Peng, which Beijing branded "absolutely identical in attempting to divide the motherland."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Similarly, Chen Li-an warned, "If you vote for Lee Teng-hui, you are choosing war."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The crisis ended when two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups were positioned near Taiwan.<ref name="jstor">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Lee, who told his people to resist "state terrorism,"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> was seen as a strong leader who could negotiate with the PRC. Because of this, many constituents from southern Taiwan who favored independence voted for him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One Taipei newspaper, United Daily News, reported that up to 14 to 15 percent of Lee's 54% vote share came from DPP supporters.<ref name="bellows">Template:Cite book</ref>

Results

Template:Election results

By administrative division

Subdivision	Electorate	1		2		3		4		Invalid	Turnout	Margin
		Chen Li-an		Lee Teng-hui		Peng Ming-min		Lin Yang-kang
		Wang Ching-feng		Lien Chan		Frank Hsieh		Hau Pei-tsun
		Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Taipei City	1,842,261	165,541	11.89%	Template:White	Template:White	338,895	24.34%	346,272	24.87%	12,522	76.26%	202,826
Taipei County	2,166,016	186,973	11.37%	Template:White	Template:White	370,728	22.55%	292,541	17.79%	17,074	76.69%	422,990
Keelung City	254,276	25,950	13.42%	Template:White	Template:White	34,256	17.71%	35,978	18.60%	1,747	76.75%	62,967
Yilan County	313,770	20,573	8.94%	Template:White	Template:White	68,044	29.56%	15,154	6.58%	2,063	74.02%	58,361
Taoyuan County	985,365	91,048	12.02%	Template:White	Template:White	114,901	15.16%	128,607	16.97%	9,955	77.91%	308,297
Hsinchu County	270,365	24,746	11.67%	Template:White	Template:White	23,555	11.11%	23,342	11.01%	3,051	79.53%	116,766
Hsinchu City	226,574	22,603	12.93%	Template:White	Template:White	28,281	16.17%	30,155	17.25%	2,031	78.07%	65,531
Miaoli County	376,581	29,884	10.31%	Template:White	Template:White	31,036	10.70%	26,459	9.12%	3,795	78.01%	171,557
Taichung County	897,357	71,030	10.01%	Template:White	Template:White	115,034	16.22%	96,594	13.62%	9,099	80.06%	311,634
Taichung City	555,794	46,844	11.11%	Template:White	Template:White	82,416	19.55%	96,509	22.89%	4,084	76.60%	113,449
Changhua County	841,294	62,138	9.70%	Template:White	Template:White	116,154	18.12%	54,776	8.55%	8,412	77.18%	291,666
Nantou County	371,630	14,552	5.31%	86,357	31.52%	45,556	16.63%	Template:White	Template:White	2,786	74.48%	40,801
Yunlin County	521,592	25,914	7.22%	Template:White	Template:White	68,785	19.17%	26,247	7.31%	4,343	69.63%	169,086
Chiayi County	398,362	17,515	6.37%	Template:White	Template:White	63,101	22.94%	13,716	4.99%	3,105	69.82%	117,608
Chiayi City	175,137	12,761	9.90%	Template:White	Template:White	42,984	33.35%	12,515	9.71%	1,130	74.24%	17,644
Tainan County	742,953	41,263	7.48%	Template:White	Template:White	134,969	24.47%	27,590	5.00%	5,686	75.02%	212,856
Tainan City	469,463	39,058	10.97%	Template:White	Template:White	84,929	23.85%	30,603	8.60%	3,136	76.50%	116,507
Kaohsiung City	952,202	68,158	9.29%	Template:White	Template:White	200,406	27.32%	93,691	12.77%	7,089	77.79%	170,985
Kaohsiung County	809,157	47,790	7.64%	Template:White	Template:White	151,943	24.30%	51,139	8.18%	6,210	78.04%	222,443
Pingtung County	623,207	26,644	5.78%	Template:White	Template:White	117,283	25.46%	26,902	5.84%	4,752	74.68%	172,529
Taitung County	176,313	8,160	7.52%	Template:White	Template:White	14,506	13.37%	11,584	10.68%	1,709	62.49%	59,705
Hualien County	245,715	14,568	8.91%	Template:White	Template:White	18,383	11.24%	25,836	15.80%	2,364	67.51%	86,357
Penghu County	63,533	4,170	10.29%	Template:White	Template:White	8,070	19.92%	2,907	7.18%	563	64.65%	17,297
Kinmen County	30,476	5,805	28.09%	Template:White	Template:White	336	1.63%	6,123	29.63%	401	69.12%	8,065
Lienchiang County	3,895	356	13.56%	Template:White	Template:White	35	1.33%	1,013	38.59%	53	68.75%	1,186
Source: CEC Overview Table CEC Visual Query