The Hualien county commissioner by-election was held because Chang Fu-hsing, the late commissioner, died of lung cancer while in office. The election campaign, which got underway at the beginning of July, was characterized by unprecedented levels of scheming and mudslinging.

Complications began as soon as the first candidates were nominated: Liu Chao-eh, Chang's widow, withdrew her candidacy two days after she had been persuaded by the DPP to announce that she would run in the election. The DPP then drafted You Ying-lung, a Hualien native and deputy superintendent of the Ketagalan Institute who had thrice run for legislative and county elections, to make a fourth bid for county commissioner. The KMT and the PFP set a precedent by forming a coalition and fielding Hsie Shen-shan as their joint candidate. As if to muddle the election contest even further, Wu Kuo-tung, Hualien's former county commissioner, failed to obtain the KMT's nomination and decided to run on an independent ticket.

Moreover, in response to numerous unconfirmed reports of vote-buying in Hualien, Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien dispatched a large contingent of several hundred police officers from Kaohsiung and Taipei to join more than 1200 local police to investigate and make a show of force. The day before the election, the police even set up round-the-clock checkpoints on the main roads of Hualien's townships and tribal villages.

These measures made local people jittery and afraid to leave their homes at night. Hualien's chief prosecutor Yang Ta-chih inflamed passions by accusing the Ministry of the Interior of "violating the constitution." Both the premier and the minister of the interior insisted that the checkpoints were perfectly legal. The ensuing constitutional debate and clash between the Minister of Justice, Chen Ding-nan, and the Chief Prosecutor are still making waves. On August 5, the prosecutor-general of the Hualien District Prosecutors' Office, Chen Uen-li, tendered his resignation, ostensibly for personal reasons. The media concluded that Chen was forced to resign because his failure as prosecutor-general to order his staff to support the police investigation had contributed to the DPP's electoral defeat in Hualien.

The original reason so much attention was focused on the Hualien county commissioner by-election was that the presidential election, to be held next March, is fast approaching. Parties in and out of government began early on to maneuver and match strengths behind the scenes. Because the timing of the Hualien county election made it a key link in the presidential election, it was only natural that it came to be seen as a touchstone for that contest. The blue and green camps therefore deployed all their crack troops to win ballots in the mountains of Hualien.

During the election battle, the chairmen of the KMT and the PFP made several trips to campaign for Hsie Shen-shan. KMT chairman Lien Chan stressed that since the two parties had joined forces, Hsie was the first candidate fielded jointly by the KMT and the PFP. According to Lien Chan, the county-commissioner election was an important, firm, and fitting first step towards regaining the presidency next year.

Under the leadership of President Chen Shui-bian, the DPP mobilized the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan, and the party faithful to assist in the election campaign. But the DPP faced the disadvantage that the electorate of Hualien County, which is evenly divided among Taiwan's four major ethnic groups-people of Fukienese ancestry, the Hakka, recent mainland immigrants and their offspring, and aboriginal tribespeople-traditionally cast their ballots for the pan-blue camp.

Although in investigating vote-buying, the DPP only sought to ensure a clean election, it also made blunders, such as criticizing the aboriginal tradition of holding banquets and allowing DPP candidate You Ying-lung to make a campaign promise to give aboriginal chieftains a monthly allowance of NT$5000. The public derision of a number of chieftains who enjoy respect and prestige in their communities produced antagonism against the DPP, which was thus defeated at the ballot box despite making many election promises. Once the election was over, the Control Yuan conducted an investigation into whether the offer of monthly allowances for aboriginal chieftains amounted to a vote-buying scheme. DPP Deputy Secretary- General Lee Chin-yung was among those interviewed in the investigation.

Also after the election, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung stated that regardless of the DPP's election defeat in Hualien, the Executive Yuan would press ahead with public works projects in the county, including the Suao-Hualien freeway project to be begun at the end of the year, the electrification of the North Link railway line between Hualien and Keelung, the expansion of Hualien airport, the improvement of Hualien Harbor, and the highway linking Yuli and Changping.

Having investigated and debated the reasons for the election defeat, the DPP's Central Committee declared that it would take a long, hard look at its electoral approach. DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan concludes that given poor conditions and preparation, even maintaining the party's traditional base of support was difficult, but he thinks that the outcome of this county election should not influence next year's presidential election.

Now that the election is over and the war drums have grown silent, it matters little whether the government or the opposition parties came out victorious. What matters is that the people of Hualien regain their peace and tranquility and return to their normal lives.