Excerpt from Taiwan story

Byrne:  The boomers who took Taipei

02:19

Yun Han Chu:  It's almost like Clinton coming to the White House you know he reflect generation turnover.

Byrne:  Meet the Tai wannabies, they campaign for autonomy  but can Chen and Lu stay true.

Lu:  Don't just ask us to surrender, it's absolutely impossible.

Excerpt from Burma story

Byrne:  Also Myanmar and money.

Clapp:   They're not a legitimate government -military. They're not supposed to be running a country. They should be running the military.

Byrne:  Should we be doing business in Burma?

Aung San Suu Kyi:  We, as NLD as other democratic forces in Burma, have no faith whatsoever in this move of the Australian government.

Byrne in studio

Byrne:  Hello and welcome to Foreign Correspondent.  I'm Jennifer Byrne.

03:17

We begin the program with Taiwan's new generation - The presidential team that's got mainland China more nervous than ever.

They're a pair of politicians who've done their time.  Time in prison as dissidents.  Time in the dark when their party was outlawed and time in the wilderness when the issue of the islands independence wasn't quite as hot and topical.

But their time has come.  Chen Shu Bian and his deputy Annette Lu were swept to victory in dramatic and historic fashion ending years of nationalist party rule and no one's more interested in their agenda than the mainland. 

With Hong Kong and Macau back in the fold, mainland China is making it clear it has no minds for independent minds in Taiwan. Here's Jane Hutcheon.

Goddess celebration

Hutcheon:  On Meizhou Island off southern China, the leaders come from far and wide to celebrate the birthday a thousand years ago of Meizhou. Goddess of the sea and queen of heaven.

04:11

She's worshiped by tens of millions of Chinese who pray for wealth, success and safe keeping.  But ironically some of her most zealous supporters those from Taiwan can't easily get here.

Hutcheon at temple

Though this island is just one hundred kilometres from Taiwan it might as well be on the other side of the world.  There are no direct communications or transportation links between the two sides so to get here pilgrims have to first arrive in a neutral territory before journeying on to the mainland.

05:07

With the new president sworn in, many Taiwanese in business, religion or culture are praying for better ties between the sides of the strait.  A political thaw that will allow direct travel to the mainland.  They might as well ask for a miracle.

Chinese politician

Chinese politician:  You don't understand the history of China.  You don't understand that the Chinese people will use every ounce of blood, and sacrifice lives to defend the unity of the motherland and the dignity of the Chinese nation.

05:55

Hutcheon: While the mainland threatens war, the new president of Taiwan is crafting a strategy for peace with China.  But without giving up Taiwan's hard won struggle for autonomy and democracy.

06:09

Chen Shui Bian

Bian:  Today most Taiwanese citizens believe that Taiwan is an independent country with its own sovereignty rights - the Republic of China is an independent country with it's own sovereignty rights.  We are not a province or a part of the People's Republic of China.

06:26

Map of Taiwan

Hutcheon:  Amid mass jubilation on Taipei streets,  Chen Shui Bien and Annette Lu won the greatest battle of their political lives.  They succeeded in overthrowing fifty years of KMT domination.

06:48

As part of a fledgling democracy movement 20 years ago they fought the authoritarian rule of the KMT.

Mr Chen was a young defence lawyer, Miss Lu a feminist democracy activist.  They were founding members of Taiwan's first opposition.  The democratic progressive party or DPP outlawed from the political scene until the late eighties.

Super:  Annette Lu

Vice President elect, Taiwan

Lu:  We emphasise new era, new vision new philosophy, so everything's possible, but don't ask us to surrender, it's absolutely impossible.

07:46

Hutcheon:  Surrender isn't  a word President - elect Chen uses very often.

At 49 he's become adept at  overcoming both personal and professional obstacles.  In the mid- nineteen eighties his wife Wu Shu-Jen was left a paraplegic after what some say was a politically hit and run incident.

Later Chen himself was jailed for nine months for libel but these days he's softened his rebel tones.

Bian concept store

Music: Chen Shui Bian rap

08:40

Hutcheon:  Widely known by his nickname Ah Bian, he reached out to Taiwan's middle class as a home grown down to earth politician,  something the old school politicians had never done.

Music: Chen Shui Bian rap

Hutcheon:  His campaign for the presidency in employed catchy music and a concept store set up by supporters.

Super:  Professor Yun-han Chu

Political Science, Nat. Taiwan Uni

Yun Han Chu: He really represents the new generation. So it's almost like Clinton came to the White House.  He reflects the generation turnover, Chen Shui Bian also belong to the baby boomer generation.  So that a  former dissident turn into a popular leader and eventually elected president, I think itself is very dramatic

09:10

Hutcheon:  Mr Chen doesn't only represent generational change, he represents Taiwanese identity.  Unlike Taiwan's incumbent ruling elite, recent descendants of mainlanders, his family has lived in Taiwan for nearly three centuries.

09:44

They were poor rural battlers from the southern county to Tainan.

Wang Ben-hu

So he's a person of a poor social background who rises to success - that's his story. 

10:19

Hutcheon:  The pauper to president is already being made into a TV drama, the brainchild of writer- producer Wang Ben-hu

Wang Ben-hu

We've used the angle of a love story with Chen Shui Bian and his wife Ah Jen.  Their love story has real emotional impact with Taiwanese people.

Hutcheon:  For Mr Wang, the presidential soap opera is more than a money spinner.  He's telling his own story and the story of millions of ordinary Taiwanese.

Wang Ben-hu

Chen Shui Bian's stance on Taiwan's independence is the same as mine and the same as Lee Teng-hui's.  However if Taiwan, let's say, decides to declare independence then we face the threat of war from China.  So what he has to do now is to take into account a wider audience and so the topic of independence has to be hushed.  He has to bury his hopes and dreams of Taiwanese independence deep within his heart instead.

Wang and Hutcheon

Hutcheon:  This separate Taiwanese identity says Mr Wang, is something the Beijing leadership either ignores or fails to understand. 

11:52

Beijing believes the lack of open support for independence is a silent vote for reunification.

But four out of five people call themselves locals, speaking Taiwanese rather that Mandarin, the national language of China.

In these parts, Mr Wang says, most families have lived here for generations.

Wang with woman

Wang:  So when your ancestors first came to Taiwan, they lived here?  Hundreds of years ago?

Lady:  I moved here forty years ago.

Wang:  Where were you before?

Lady:  In a neighbouring district.

Wang:  Are you Chinese or Taiwanese?

Lady:  Taiwanese.

12:29

Hutcheon:  Here, where the stand off with Mainland China is a distant thought, the villagers with Mr Chen's election, Taiwan has finally found a voice.

Wang and old man

Old Man:  Give us Taiwanese a chance at being president.

13:00

Hutcheon:  Mr Yang is a second generation Mainlander.  People like him make up one fifth of Taiwan's population. Mr Yang runs a popular Shanghai style dumpling restaurant founded by his father a  Nationalist sympathiser.

Even though Mr Yang pays regular visits back to his ancestral village in China, he feels the Mainland is a world apart from Taiwan.

Mr Yang in restaurant

Mr. Yang:  There, when people work they don't seem to have any spare income left over.  The social environment isn't good either - a lot of robberies.... murders.  I think Taiwan and China are actually two countries.  Life is different - every aspect is different between the two.

13:43

Hutcheon:  Do you like it that way?

Mr Yang:  I think we should keep things the way they are.  Each to his own.  That would be best.  That's what I think.

Chen with minders at function

Hutcheon:  On tour to thank voters for his success, Mr Chen's rhetoric pleases the populace, but he's already removed independence from his platform.

14:09

Those who voted for him may find President Chen, less than a firebrand than Dissident Chen.

But he's very much aware that one wrong word could trigger an attack from Beijing.

And while Mr Chen plays it safe, vice president elect Annette Lu outlines a proposal many Taiwanese would support, A commonwealth type arrangement.

Lu interview

Lu:  Ethnically, we are relatives because most of us have ancestors coming from China.  We are more than happy to admit it.  And geographically we are neighbours, because we are relatives there's no hatred, there shouldn't be any war.  Because we are neighbours so we should co-exist peacefully and friendly.

15:00

Hutcheon:  Can you ever concede to Beijings demands and return a one China policy as Beijing sees it?

Bian interview

Bian:  If that means Taiwan will ostensibly become a part of the People's Republic of China and we will become one of their local governments - one of their provinces.  I personally cannot accept that.  The majority of the 23 million Taiwanese cannot accept that.  Taiwan is a democratic country,  so as their leader - as the President of the Republic of China I must respect the will of the people.

Meizhou's birthday celebration

Hutcheon:  In Mainland China, Meizhou's birthday has become an event to showcase Beijing's dream of reunifying all of China.

16:05

Here there are representatives from all corners of China.  The recent returnees; Hong Kong and Macau, and the rebels, Taiwan.

Chinese officials have thrown a blanket of silence over Chen Shui Bian, even newspapers which mention his name have been closed down.

But despite the low key approach, it isn't hard to make officials open up and there's no mistaking Beijing's dark mood.

Wo Ren Wei

Wo Ren Wei:  I think we should observe his (Chen's) behaviour.  If he declared independence we would not allow him to do so.  We will attack immediately and conquer all. 

16:57

Ru Guo Shi

Ru Guo Shi:   If they insist on independence we won't hesitate to shed blood.  No one will be allowed to declare independence.

Hutcheon:  Across the Taiwan Strait, for those that don't make it to the party, Taiwanese worshipers hold there own celebrations for Meizhou's birthday.

Free from mainland religious constraints, Taiwanese worshippers are more zealous than their Mainland compatriots.

Crazies go crazy

17:38

The mainland leadership believes shared cultural and religious beliefs like this can lure believers and others into supporting China's grand dream of reunification.

Taiwan's new president when he takes office will ask foreign governments to support Taiwan's choice.

Bian

Bian:  We hope the international community will hear the true voice of the people of Taiwan and respect the choice and determination of the Taiwan people.  Otherwise, how can western countries pursue democracy themselves and be disrespectful and suppressive of Taiwan's pursuit of democracy?

18:17

Byrne in studio

Byrne:  Jane Hutcheon with the new team in Taiwan. 

18:47