The Politics of Celebrity.(Sisy Chen)(Brief Article)

No one doubts that Sisy Chen is a star. The flamboyant 43-year-old TV host known as Taiwan's Oprah Winfrey has spawned several immensely popular television and radio programs. Fans beg for her autograph on the street. A few years ago Taiwanese Playboy offered her millions to pose nude (she refused). When she ran for office in Taiwan's recent legislative elections, she won a seat without even formally campaigning. Says Joseph Wu, a professor of political science at National Chengchi University, "The mainstream of Taiwanese society sees Sisy Chen as its representative."

The question is whether she can be their trailblazer, too. As one of 10 independent swing votes in the new legislature, which is divided between the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of President Chen Shui-bian and the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), she will have an outsize influence on the DPP agenda. In fact, many analysts say she holds the key to President Chen's political future: if he continues to be stymied by the legislature even after gaining a plurality of seats in the Dec. 1 polls, his reputation for ineffectualness could doom his chances of re-election in 2004. That and her vast public appeal mean Sisy Chen will have a great deal to say about where Taiwan goes from here.

Like many ordinary Taiwanese, she would most like to push the island toward closer economic ties with the mainland. Nearly 70 percent of Taiwan's high-tech manufacturing has already moved to China, devastating the island's economy. For years Taiwan's government has resisted the trend by restricting investment in the mainland, fearing that economic dependence would make Taiwan vulnerable to Beijing. Some of those restrictions have been lifted recently, but business leaders argue that more drastic measures are needed, including establishing once taboo direct transportation links to the mainland.

While refusing to resume talks with Taiwan until the island accepts the "one China" principle, Beijing continues to encourage greater Taiwanese investment. "There is a very strong belief among some people here that if China increases its economic relations ...