I can’t find any reference to the election in China’s media - just the referendum. Do the people there even know we’re having an election? 
The question is, do they even care?
Saw something on the telly last night, they were showing people in China a pic of Chen Shui Bian asking who he is. Don’t think many did. Some thought it was Chen Bian Shui.
I don’t think it would be a good idea for the commies to let people know that some part of China is able to choose its own leader.
People down south know, perhaps because they watch HK news broadcasts and sometimes get their hands on HK newspapers. I had a HK magazine that analyzed the possibilities of the election with me up here in Dongguan last week. Every mainlander who saw it on my desk stopped to read through it for at least a few minutes. Most of them reacted in one of two ways. Some of them, even if quite nationalistic, were just damn curious to read anything written objectively about Taiwan. A few of them wrote off the articles in the magazine as subversive and proof that Beijing needs to crack the whip in HK. For most of them, though, curiosity outweighed any kneejerk reactions to what the articles said.
I think people in Fujian also know about the election because they get TV signals from Jinmen and Mazu. I read in a HK magazine that after CSB won in 2000, many people in rural Fujian celebrated because “one of their own” won the election.
I guess the answer to your question is that like a lot of things that Beijing does not want people to know, anybody over here who has the slightest inclination to find out about the election can do so. The government doesn’t bend over backwards to prevent the most curious from finding out through channels like the internet; they know that this is pretty well impossible. However, they will tolerate absolutely no discussion of it on the internet. During this period, they are apparently traulling through discussion forums more than usual to make sure people aren’t expressing any “incorrect” opinions about the election. I even know of a couple of English language websites that are telling posters not to post anything sensitive right now; the posters on these sites are almost all foreigners.
News items from Xinhua for March 15 on Taiwan:
- Taiwanese voice love for Shanghai in writing contest
- Figures: Mainland’s exports to Taiwan Province in January
- Taiwan tourist jumps from Oriental Pearl Tower (yesterday)
Just got back from Shanghai last night. They definitely know about it there. There was also a fairly large article with photo in the Macau newspaper (Chinese language edition) showing the Kaohsiung march/event, but I didn’t read it in detail. Figured I’d get enough speaker trucks as soon as I cleared CKS. Pretty quiet thus far, though, what?
From Reuters:
“China has urged the United States to take more action conducive to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait following a tumultuous weekend election on the island…”
Isn’t this the same China that in the recent past has urged the US to stay out of China-Taiwan affairs? If China claims Taiwan as a part of China, isn’t it up to them to take more action conducive to peace and stability?
just further evidence that taiwan IS an insular area of the US under proxy control.