In mid-November, a series of unexpected events erupted noisily in Taiwan's political world.

The first surprise happened on the morning of November 11, when presidential candidate James Soong introduced to a disbelieving public his vice-presidential running mate-Chang Gung Medical College president Chang Chau-hsiung, labeling his campaign team the "New Taiwanese Service Corps."

The political freshman

Chang Chau-hsiung, who turned 58 this year, graduated from National Taiwan University with a degree in medicine and went on to become one of Taiwan's leading heart surgeons. After joining Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in the 1970s, he single-handedly set up the hospital's enormous medical treatment system. He took over the reins as president of Chang Gung Medical College in 1997. He has cast a long shadow in Taiwan's medical community.

Born to a family of fishermen in the Kaohsiung County town of Chiching, Chang Chau-hsiung is very grass-roots. Chang's parents-in-law, the prominent gynecologist Li Chih-ying and his wife, are on close terms with President and Mrs. Lee Teng-hui. They also have close connections to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the opposition movement. In addition, Chang Chau-hsiung was one of the authors of DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian's health care white paper.

From the traditional Taiwanese perspective, medicine is the most elevated of professions, and many important Taiwanese families have pursued careers in this field. In the past, the medical community, the native Taiwanese elite and the opposition were held to be nearly synonymous. Now, this association has been shattered by Chang Chau-hsiung. It is no wonder that some in the DPP have described him as a "traitor."

The selection of Chang Chau-hsiung was a great surprise to the general public, provoking responses both positive and negative. Soong supporters considered the move to be a smart one. Chang Chau-hsiung's image as a trademark Taiwanese can make up for James Soong's "mainlander" persona. Naysayers contended that the fact that Soong joined up with a political novice with neither wealth nor mobilizing capability demonstrates how desperate he was, and how many doors he had already unsuccessfully knocked on. That Chang Chau-hsiung has no political experience is particularly worrisome to some observers, who doubt whether he is ready or able to serve as vice president, the standby for head of state.

Once confirmed, the Soong-Chang ticket received a warm response. In a mid-November Gallup poll, commissioned by Sanlih TV, 33.1% of respondents favored the Soong-Chang ticket, while both the DPP's Chen Shui-bian and the ruling party Kuomintang (KMT) ticket of Lien Chan and current premier Vincent Siew garnered 18.2%. In addition, when asked whom they expected to win, the largest portion (34%) said Soong and Chang.

Odd couple or perfect match?

Shortly after the Soong-Chang ticket was made public, former DPP leader Hsu Hsin-liang unveiled his own surprise, announcing on the morning of November 20 that after a long search he had selected his running mate-New Party legislator Chu Hui-liang, known as the "lady of valor."

Hsu Hsin-liang established his status as a political philosopher with his broad concept of "a new people," while mainlander Chu Hui-liang is best known as a specialist in the fields of culture and education. Chu asserts she had been observing Hsu Hsin-liang for a long time, and was deeply impressed by his insistent idealism and his disregard for critics. She believes that her decision to run on Hsu Hsin-liang's ticket is by no means a betrayal of the New Party. On the contrary, she held that it was an exemplification of the party's ideals and would allow the party to spread forth and blossom. She said that she never expected that her party membership would be revoked.

The astonishing cross-partisan pairings of the Soong-Chang and Hsu-Chu tickets-both presidential candidates stepping outside party ranks to launch independent campaigns and choosing running mates completely different from themselves-on the one hand shows that they are above not only party politics, but also provincial background and the issue of unification vs. independence. On the other hand, it also shows that they hoped to maximize the complementarity of their tickets to attract votes from as wide a political spectrum as possible. And because both vice-presidential candidates are successful professionals, instead of old political hands whose expertise is rolling with the political currents of officialdom, they offer voters a feeling of something fresh and worthy of attention.

From a different angle, the bold choices for running mates made by James Soong and Hsu Hsin-liang underscore the immaturity of Taiwan's party politics. The charisma of individual leaders still holds tremendous sway. President Lee Teng-hui criticized the so-called "extra-party" concept, describing it as a big step backward from democratic development and party politics. One DPP legislator went even further, accusing Soong of hiding behind a democratic guise to plot a dictatorship like that of Mao Zedong.

No matter how many kinds of partnerships appear, the most startling developments came from the New Party's candidate Li Ao, who announced in a November 21 press conference that he was "conditionally" willing to accept the position of New Party chairman, only if the current chairman Lee Ching-hua "switched places" with him and ran as the party's nominee for president. Li Ao also said he would "convince" prominent DPP personality Sisy Chen to sign up as Lee Ching-hua's running mate.

Li Ao also admitted that he had "on impulse" promised to serve as vice-presidential candidate with his old friend Hsu Hsin-liang, but seven hours later was convinced by the New Party to call his decision off, thus indirectly giving shape to the Hsu-Chu match. Nevertheless, becoming Hsu's partner caused Chu to lose her membership in the New Party. Will the embarrassment of Li Ao's "going AWOL" and the New Party's constant inner conflicts cause it to collapse? If it does, who will snatch up their voter base? These questions have become the focus of attention on all sides.

The middle road

On November 15, the KMT held an extemporaneous meeting, clearing the way for Huang Kun-huei, secretary-general of the Office of the President, to trade positions with John Chang, secretary-general of the KMT. Following this action, Jason Hu announced his resignation from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, taking up the job of manager of Vice President Lien Chan's election campaign. His position was filled by Government Information Office director general Chen Chien-jen. With the aid of the fresh recruits Huang and Hu, the Lien-Siew camp is readying itself for battle.

On November 17, the KMT also took long-delayed disciplinary action against long-time member James Soong, whose separate bid for the presidency defied the will of the party leadership. The KMT revoked Soong's party membership, along with that of six core party leaders, while Lee Teng-hui referred to him with the rare and severe term "traitor," claiming that he spoke to the people with flowery words, yet went to any extreme to try to sow discord, and appropriated KMT resources for his own use. Lee warned his countrymen that "a certain candidate . . .talks until he drools from the corner of his mouth," and that no one can know for sure whether he will "sell Taiwan out" if elected. Lee's statement clearly showed that there was no love lost between him and Soong. In the future, when the two sides confront each other, the antagonism is bound to be more virulent than ever before.

Alongside the clamor of the other candidates, a few unexpected turns came from the DPP's Chen Shui-bian. On November 15 he formally released his "Turn of the Century China Policy White Paper," in which he reiterated his position that Taiwan is a sovereign, independent nation, termed the Republic of China under the current constitution. Moreover, he stated that the DPP had an open stance toward the nation's "special relationship" with mainland China; if only the people of Taiwan agree as a whole, he did not rule out any possibility for the future definition of cross-strait relations.

Chen also proposed allowing direct flights between Taiwan and mainland China, operated exclusively by Taiwan airlines but with profits shared by both sides, as one way to chip away at the restrictions on the "three links" (direct postal, transport and trade ties with the mainland). Does this signify that the DPP no longer insists upon Taiwanese independence, and no longer rejects any form of contact or compromise with mainland China? The answer remains to be seen. What can be expected, however, is that the unification-vs.-independence issue will continue to simmer, as each presidential candidate in turn revises his originally clear-cut position and shifts toward the middle ground of "insisting on Taiwan first, and letting the people decide their own future."

Meanwhile, the selection of current Taoyuan County executive Annette Lu as Chen's running mate, rumors about which surfaced early on in the race, has not been formally announced. Most observers consider it unlikely that someone else will be chosen, but because the two have not officially launched their campaign, Chen and Lu seem slightly less energetic than the other teams.

The people the biggest winners

With the announcements of three vice-presidential candidates, the tickets are taking shape, and in the midst of this month's incessant political showmanship, the candidates have exhibited the ambition to break through conventional structures with new ideas and new policies, to make way for a new century. This is something the people are happy to see. But the people also expect that in this election, provincial allegiances will be diluted, and the debate over unification vs. independence will be deliberately made ambiguous. Outright sensationalism can no longer hold the people spellbound. What will emerge is a battle of ideas and personalities. No matter who finally attains the presidency, the people's growing level of political sophistication and the advancement of democracy in Taiwan are sure to be the election's biggest winners of all.

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"Politics isn't a battle to the death. Relax. Health and happiness are what's most important!" Medical doctor Chang Chau-hsiung, whose advice rings true to his profession, has formally taken off his physician's coat to vie for office as James Soong's running mate. (photo by Huang Tian-chiang)

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New KMT secretary-general Huang Kun-huei and campaign headquarters general manager Jason Hu are fresh troops in the Lien-Siew campaign. (photo by Su Hui-ching)

New KMT secretary-general Huang Kun-huei and campaign headquarters general manager Jason Hu are fresh troops in the Lien-Siew campaign. （photo by Su Hui-ching）