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Taiwan in final countdown to presidential polls

TAIPEI: Taiwan began on Sunday the final countdown to a presidential election dominated by threats from mainland China.

Rivals of Chen Shui-bian of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party have warned voters that the pro-independence former Taipei mayor was "dangerous" and electing him on March 18 meant war with China.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and has threatened to invade if the island declared independence.

A television commercial by an unidentified rival features Taiwan civilians waving good-bye to their families and marching to war with China with Chen's hoarse voice shouting: "Long live Taiwan independence" in the background.

In a bid to allay voter fears, Chen has been running an advertisement in major newspapers featuring a picture of his son in military uniform and performing a push-up with one hand.

Chen said he was the only one of the five candidates with a son who has reached conscription age and that he would not provoke or declare war against China.

Chen has defended himself saying he is "a peacemaker, not a troublemaker" and welcomed a summit with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Saturday's election is too close to call, with Chen, 48, locked in a tight three-way race with Vice President Lien Chan, 63, standard-bearer of the ruling Nationalist Party, and rebel Nationalist candidate James Soong, 57.

The election marks the first time the Nationalists could be voted out of office since Taiwan was returned to Chinese control in 1945 after 50 years of Japanese colonial rule. Last month, China's cabinet issued a policy "white paper" in which it threatened the island with invasion unless it stopped dragging its heels indefinitely on reunification.

The sabre-rattling rang alarm bells in Washington and sent the Taiwan stock exchange plunging.

The United States sent Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott to Beijing last month for talks designed to avoid a repeat of the tense standoff between Washington and Beijing during Taiwan's last presidential elections.

U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen has urged China and Taiwan to lower the rhetoric and tension between them.

In another bid to appease voters, Chen said he would appoint Lee Yuan-tseh, revered head of Taiwan's top academic institution, as one his advisers and an envoy to China if he were elected.

Lee, who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1986, visited Beijing last year and met President Jiang.

Vice President Lien told a televised forum on Saturday Taiwan's youth would trade their caps for "army helmets" and head for the battlefield if Chen were elected.

Lien's camp ran an advertisement in major newspapers showing the "peace" loving vice president flanked by two men wearing masks with the labels "belligerent" and "afraid of losing" in apparent reference to his rivals.

President Lee Teng-hui, who is due to step down in May after 12 years in power, has been campaigning for Lien islandwide despite his age.

Lee, who is 77, denied on Saturday rumours that he would dump his protege Lien and throw his weight behind Chen. The president and Nobel winner Lee Yuan-tseh are not related.-Reuters