Taiwan Election

In response to “Double Standards ‘Guide’ the Vote,” by Michael Reisman, Commentary, Jan. 17:

I found Reisman’s article about national election in Taiwan totally off the mark. While few elections can be completely free of allegations of irregularities, decades of advances in democratic processes no longer allow a loaded election in Taiwan as Reisman claimed. About 40 years ago, an opposition candidate for the mayor of Taipei won an unexpected upset and stunned the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) Party. Forty years later, if a person believes that KMT can buy votes to stuff ballot boxes, the person might as well believe in tooth fairies.

Reisman said: “They (KMT officials) told me that they had provided a degree of stability and prosperity in Taiwan that was unknown in 4,000 years of Chinese history. It is true. Free-market Taiwan is one of the richest countries in the world.” Then, he added: “But what does that have to do with the free and fair elections of a democracy?” Anyone who failed to see the relation had no business being an election observer.

Taiwanese voters, like American voters, vote for their pocketbooks first. Why would anyone commit election fraud if there was no need to? The people in Taiwan are highly educated, they know what they are doing.

I was in Taiwan about a month before the election. Poll after poll showed that the ruling party would win about 75% of the popular votes. The election returns proved the polls to be accurate. If polls are free, usually elections are free too.

SINGCHOU WU, San Luis Obispo