Taiwan Takes a Stand

The island ignores Beijing's angry rhetoric and elects an independence-minded President

The future won over the past, and hope overcame fear in Taiwan Saturday as voters chose opposition candidate Chen Shui-bian as their next President--despite warnings from Beijing that his election could mean war. Chen's win, which ended 55 years of Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) rule on the island, sent tremors around Asia in anticipation of Beijing's reaction, even as the streets of Taipei turned into a party. Only 14 years ago, Chen, a pro-democracy lawyer, had been languishing in jail on charges of libeling a high-ranking KMT member. "This is the greatest victory of Taiwan's democracy movement," Chen told TIME in his...

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