HONG KONG — Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's greatest successes were scored in 2000 and again in 2004, when he won two presidential elections. His performance as president in the last seven years, however, has been mediocre.
No doubt, that is why he is spending more time campaigning than he is running Taiwan. As a result, both foreign investors and local people have been complaining about the state of the economy and the cost of living.
Chen has honed electioneering to a fine art. In fact, looking at the Taiwan press, it often appears as though he, rather than Frank Hsieh, is the candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in March's presidential election, running against Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang.