Taiwan's Lee targets political centre ahead of vote

TAIPEI, Feb 5 (Reuters) Reviled by China as a ''splittist'' fit only for the ''dustbin of history'', former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui has shaken up the island's political scene by distancing himself from the pro-independence camp, analysts say.

Analysts say Lee is not abandoning his sovereignty credo, which prompted Beijing to test-fire a series of missiles into waters around Taiwan when he was president a decade ago.

Rather, the 84-year-old is moving to grab vacant ground in the political centre ahead of parliamentary elections due in December and ensure the survival of his Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) -- a minnow compared to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Nationalist Party, or KMT.

The TSU has 12 of parliament's 218 members. But at the end of this year, the number of lawmakers will be cut to 113 and a new system for winning seats could make it tougher for small parties.

''I don't think he (Lee) has changed his position,'' said Shane Lee, a political science professor at Chang Jung University in Taiwan. ''Basically he is trying to help the TSU in the next election. He has to struggle for the survival of the TSU.'' Lee's party, founded in 2001, has been an ally of the DPP and is sometimes seen as more extreme in its support for Taiwan's full independence from China, which has viewed the island as a breakaway province since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949.

SHUNNING THE DPP But the local media latched onto a comment Lee made last week that Taiwan's break from mainland China was a ''non-issue'' as a sign that he was going soft on independence.

The TSU lashed the media's response, in particular denying reports that he wanted to visit China on his own. The party wrote on its Web site: ''Taiwan is already a sovereign and independent nation''.

Analysts say Lee's manoeuvring is partly an effort to distance his party from the DPP, which has been rocked by scandals in the president's office, to woo lower- and middle-class voters disillusioned with both main parties.

''We hope this adds points for us,'' said Mark Ho, a TSU legislator.

The DPP's popularity has slumped with the fortunes of President Chen Shui-bian, whose wife and several former aides are being tried on charges that they misused state funds.

Critics say the scandals have distracted the DPP from pursuing constitutional changes that Beijing has warned would amount to a declaration of independence.

KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou, who is tipped to win his party's nomination to tilt at the presidency next year, faces his own controversy over irregularities in the use of a special Taipei mayoral fund.

DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun asked Lee last week not to drift too close to the KMT, which favours closer ties with China and which Lee led before founding his the Taiwan Solidarity Union.

But the Nationalists were more receptive.

''Any party that comes towards the centre is a good thing,'' said KMT spokesman Su Jun-pin. ''Chairman Ma Ying-jeou also still respects him a lot.'' REUTERS AKJ VV1100