Taiwan’s China-friendly president says electoral setback a warning for his party

Poll setback tests Taiwan’s China-friendly leader

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou said Sunday by-election losses this weekend were a warning for his Nationalist party, while pro-government newspapers said it reflected public dissatisfaction with his leadership.

On Saturday, the Nationalists, who maintain a strong majority in parliament, suffered their third electoral setback in two months following a string of government blunders in domestic affairs.

They secured only one of four legislative seats up for grabs, losing the other three to the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which says Ma’s initiatives to boost ties with Beijing threatens Taiwan’s sovereignty and economy.

The Nationalists now control 75 seats in the 113-seat legislature. The DPP has 33.

Ma apologized to his supporters Sunday for the poor results.

“This is a huge warning for us and this shows we have not worked hard enough,” he said.

Even pro-government newspapers said it reflected public concern over Ma’s leadership on domestic issues, including the administration’s botched response to Typhoon Morakot, which killed 700 people on the island in August. China Times said the government’s decision last year to lift a ban on imports of U.S. bone-in-beef, which stoked public fear of a possible outbreak of mad cow disease, had also hurt the Ma administration.

“The legislative defeats show the public unhappiness with Ma’s governance has yet to hit rock bottom,” the newspaper said in an analysis.

United Daily News said Ma’s public approval rating was now 29 percent, down from 33 percent two months ago — the lowest since Typhoon Morakot.

The newspaper conducted the poll by telephone on Saturday night after the election results, with responses from 1,181 people. It had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

“After Ma took office, he has disappointed his supporters many times, and this is why the Nationalist party is having difficulties winning in recent elections,” United Daily News said in an editorial.

It appears to signal that voters are less focused than the president on his aim of improving relations with Beijing. Since he took office in May 2008, Taiwan has established regular direct air and sea links with the mainland and allowed Chinese investment on the island.

The keystone of Ma’s policy is a partial free trade agreement with Beijing which would reduce tariff barriers, further liberalize investment regulations and create new structures for financial cooperation. Ma has said he wants to close the deal in the next few months.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing continues to claim Taiwan as part of its territory.