I was invited by the Hong Kong and Macau Association of Taiwan to visit Taipei to observe the historic presidential election campaign.
The visit, from March 14-17, coincided with heightened hostilities between China and Taiwan as the Chinese authorities stepped up military exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
When I arrived in Taipei, I found a very calm city where the people were not in any way intimidated by the Chinese war games. Neither did I find the election fever which gripped Taipei during the elections of the city mayor and the provisional governor in 1994.
Instead I found a city preparing eagerly for the momentous election on March 23, the first ever presidential election to be held by Chinese people in more than 4,000 years of their history. During one of the election rallies, a speaker told the audience that after March 23, Westerners would no longer be able to say that Chinese people are not fit for democracy.
By Taiwanese standards, the election rallies were not well attended, attracting 2,000 to 3,000 people. I was told the reason for the low turnout was that many people expected President Lee Teng-hui to win, thus there was no excitement or suspense. Beijing's military exercises are designed to dissuade voters from supporting Mr Lee, who has all along been the front-runner. The Taiwanese people I met said such efforts were totally counter-productive because they forced Mr Lee to stand firm against the aggression and thus succeeded in rallying more people around him. Many now expect him to be re-elected by a big majority.
The Taiwanese authorities are aware of Hong Kong people's concern about developments in Taiwan because of its ramifications for the colony. However the secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation, Chiao Jen-ho, said Taiwan would not accept unification with China under 'one country, two systems', thus the Hong Kong experience is quite irrelevant for Taiwan.
The Straits Exchange Foundation is a quasi-government body responsible for negotiating with the Chinese authorities. Mr Chiao's remark should put to rest the wishful thinking that Hong Kong can play the Taiwan card - China will not treat Hong Kong too harshly because it wants to use the Hong Kong model to entice Taiwan.
