HONG KONG — The triumph of Ma Ying-jeou, the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, candidate in the presidential election in Taiwan brings to an end eight years of rule by the pro-independent Democratic Progressive Party, whose candidate, Frank Hsieh, managed to garner only 41 percent of the vote to 58 percent for Ma.
The outcome was predictable although the margin took many observers by surprise. The DPP resorted to negative campaigning but failed to gather much ammunition to use against Ma, who has a reputation of being "Mr. Clean."
In addition to accusing him of having divided loyalties because he used to have a U.S. green card, the DPP also accused his wife of having stolen newspapers from the university library when she was a student 30 years ago and alleged that his deceased father had an extramarital affair.