Even in democracies, if one party holds power for long enough, scandals can occur and popular support can fade. Nevertheless, the result of the Taiwanese presidential election was a landslide victory for the Nationalist Party (KMT) that far exceeded expectations. I felt, though conscious of the heartbreaking of friends of mine in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), that the election result may lead to a sort of optimistic outlook concerning Taiwan's future.

In other words, the Taiwanese voters completely discounted the possibility of a KMT victory leading to a possible China-Taiwan reunification. Otherwise they would not have opted for the KMT in the midst of China's crackdown in Tibet.

In fact, Ma Ying-jeou, the winning candidate, had said from the very beginning that he did not support reunification, and even suggested boycotting the Beijing Olympics. Moreover, throughout the election campaign both the KMT and the DPP candidates tried to outdo each other in the question of who had a stronger identity as a Taiwanese.