From the Editors

On 22 March, in an exemplary display of democracy in action that seems to have been little noticed in this country, the people of Taiwan voted by an unexpect- edly large margin to reject the presidential candidate of the governing Demo- cratic Progressive Party in favor of the leader of the main opposition party, the Kuomintang. President-elect Ma Ying-jeou promises to be a more predictable and reliable interlocutor for the United States than outgoing President Chen Shui-bian, who has antagonized both Beijing and Washington in recent years by pressing in various ways the envelope of Taiwanese independence