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TAIPEI: Taiwan's presidential contenders mustered their supporters for massive election-eve rallies Friday in a final drive for votes before the self-ruled island goes to the polls.
Opposition frontrunner Ma Ying-jeou signed off his campaign in the central city of Taichung where he told more than 100,000 cheering supporters that he would be "the creator of a new Taiwan."
The Harvard-educated Kuomintang candidate promised a "clean and sunshine government" free of corruption, and to turn Taiwan into an economic haven and innovation hub, a "Switzerland of the East."
"Please vote for change," he pleaded, "for a better future for Taiwan which is open, prosperous and forward-looking."
Ma vowed not to change the self-ruled island's status quo, which means no formal independence -- that would infuriate China -- but no reunification with the mainland, from which it split in 1949 after a civil war.
His opponent Frank Hsieh, of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), drew tens of thousands to a rally in the capital Taipei.
Supporters waved flags in the DPP's traditional green against a backdrop of music, bright lights and placards reading "Reverse the tide," a reference to his lag in the campaign.
Saturday's election is likely to turn on the slowing economy and relations with China, although analysts expect Beijing's crackdown in Tibet has allowed Hsieh to close some of the gap on Ma.
"Even if Taiwan becomes a second Tibet I will stay in Taiwan," said Hsieh, who has repeatedly used the crackdown to warn that a Ma administration could leave the island facing the same fate under Chinese rule.
"Taiwan is my homeland, Taiwan is my only choice," he thundered. "Even if I lose I will stay in Taiwan and I will share the same fate with you."
Both candidates have promised to repair ties with Beijing frayed by eight years of recurring tensions under outgoing President Chen Shui-bian.
Hsieh, whose DPP favours independence, vowed earlier Friday to "open up" to China and resume dialogue.
"In the past the DPP was criticised for not opening up, but I will be more compromising, I will do better. That's my pledge."
The stock market closed up 2.25 per cent Friday -- 4.46 per cent up over the week -- on the prospect of better ties as well as Wall Street gains, dealers said.
Since late January the island's benchmark index has risen more than 12 per cent, outperforming Wall Street and regional markets.
Both candidates want to open direct tourism and transport links, which have been largely cut off since Taiwan split from the mainland.
Ma also wants to tap into the vast mainland market for Taiwanese goods and allow Chinese investors to pump funds into the economy back here.
Hsieh, however, is more cautious on economic cooperation, warning Ma's plan could leave Taiwan vulnerable to being swallowed up.
Ma enjoyed a 20-point lead in the last opinion poll 12 days ago, before a pre-election ban on surveys took effect -- and before the Tibet unrest focused attention on Taiwan's own future.
Andrew Yang, an analyst at National Sun Yat-sen University, said Tibet was only a marginal issue, and that the economy was the main concern.
"After all, Taiwan is Taiwan and Tibet is Tibet.... China's military threat to Taiwan has been there" for decades, he told AFP.
"Lots of people expect a more constructive development in cross-Strait ties under a new presidency."
Security has been beefed up for the vote, with 68,000 officers on the beat and a protective cordon around the candidates and all polling stations.
Taiwan's 17.3 million registered voters are also being asked to cast their ballots Saturday in two referendums on joining the United Nations, but neither is expected to muster enough turnout to count. - AFP/ac
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