Upstart Party in Taiwan Makes Gains : Asia: Elections shake traditional power structure. But results don’t appear to pose direct challenge to China.

Taking advantage of a split in traditional support for the ruling Nationalist Party, Taiwan’s populist Democratic Progressive Party scored its biggest victory ever Saturday, capturing the mayoralty of Taipei, the country’s richest and most important city.

But the party, which favors independence for Taiwan, failed to win the most coveted position up for grabs, the provincial governorship of the island. That post, won handily by Nationalist Party incumbent James Soong, has been viewed widely here as a test-run for the island nation’s first presidential elections, set for 1996.

The Nationalists also captured the other big race of the day, the mayoralty of the southern industrial port Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second-largest city.

However, the Nationalist hold on power was badly shaken in Taipei, where incumbent Mayor Huang Ta-chou finished third behind the winner, Democratic Progressive candidate Chen Shui-bian, and New Party candidate Jaw Shao-kang.

It was the strongest showing yet for the upstart New Party, formed by former Nationalist Party legislators disillusioned with Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.

Jaw, a 44-year-old mechanical engineer, set the tone for the election by directly attacking Lee, who is also chairman of the Nationalist Party.

In speeches and rallies, Jaw accused Lee of abandoning the traditional Nationalist dream of reunification with the Chinese mainland and secretly supporting the pro-independence agenda of the Democratic Progressive Party.

Jaw warned that the pro-independence movement threatened to provoke an invasion from China, which officially still considers Taiwan a province under mainland control.

By winning in Taipei, the Democratic Progressive Party consolidated its hold on the capital city and surrounding suburbs. Last November, the party won control of Taipei County. Together, county and city account for one-quarter of Taiwan’s 21 million people.

Saturday’s election marked a milestone in Taiwan’s transformation from virtual dictatorship to multi-party democracy. Never before had Taiwan’s voters chosen a governor, and elections for mayor in Taipei have not been held since 1967.

Chen, the Taipei mayor-elect, a 43-year-old attorney who finished first in his class at Taiwan University Law School, campaigned on promises that he would clean up city government and attack cost overruns in Taipei’s much-delayed, much-criticized $17-billion mass transit system.

The Nationalists’ main cause for rejoicing was Soong’s victory over Democratic Progressive Party challenger Chen Ting-nan in the provincial governor’s race.

During the campaign, Soong, 52, a former spokesman for the Nationalist government, came under regular attack because of his background as a mainland-born Mandarin-speaker unable to debate his opponent in the native Taiwan dialect. His public appearances were regularly interrupted by opposition chants of “Taiwanese vote for Taiwanese.”

At least 85% of the island’s population is ethnic Taiwanese, descendants of refugees from the mainland’s Fujian province 350 years ago.

But at least in Saturday’s election, the much-feared “mainlander versus Taiwanese” issue failed to materialize as Mandarin-speaking, mainland-born candidates--Soong and Kaohsiung Mayor Wu Den-yih--won two of the three main positions up for grabs.

In an emotional acceptance speech, Soong praised the “justice” and “tolerance” of the Taiwanese people.

“Thank you. Thank you very much indeed,” he said, using the Taiwanese dialect to emphasize his gratitude.

The election results will be closely monitored on the Chinese mainland, where the Communist leadership makes no secret of its wariness of the pro-independence movement.

In the center of Taipei on Saturday night, tens of thousands of supporters filled the streets and ignited firecrackers to celebrate the victory of Chen Shui-bian. In the final tally, Chen gathered 610,000 votes, compared to 420,000 for New Party candidate Jaw and 360,000 for Nationalist Party incumbent Huang.

One of the celebrants, Wang Jin-wei, 40, an herbal medicine physician, waved a Democratic Progressive Party pennant and expressed his satisfaction: “This is a big boost for the Taiwanese people. It has been more than 30 years since we have been able to elect our mayor.”