THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996               TAG: 9603230238
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   44 lines

TAIWANESE EXCITED BY ELECTION, FORMER BEACH RESIDENT REPORTS

A former Virginia Beach resident now living in Taiwan says the Taiwanese are excited about their first democratic presidential election and show few signs of being intimidated by China's menacing war games.

Margaret Shu, 26, the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, is a graduate of Green Run High School. She now lives in Taipei, the Taiwanese capital, where she works for a Taiwanese record company and teaches English part time.

``I think my family back in the States is a little more worried about things than I am here,'' she said Friday night, hours before the polls opened for today's election.

China, which regards Taiwan as its territory, has sought to influence the outcome by holding a series of military exercises and missile tests on the island's doorstep in the past two weeks.

``For the most part, my co-workers and my English students are very calm about it,'' Shu said. ``They have no fear of Communist China.''

Americans seem most concerned about China's threats, she said. ``I had an American roommate who left the country. His parents asked him to, because of the Communist threat. And I think some American business people have left.''

But few Taiwanese seem to think the Chinese will follow up their bluster with military action, she said. ``They don't think China will attack. It's in the papers, it's on the news a lot, but the people themselves don't seem scared.''

Today is the first time in 5,000 years of Chinese history that a head of government has been elected by popular vote.

``Tonight when I was coming home from work, the roads were clogged because everybody was attending campaign rallies,'' she said. ``My students tell me they're expecting a 90 percent voter turnout. You see people driving around with flags attached to their cars and their scooters and their motorcycles.

``People are really excited.'' ILLUSTRATION: Margaret Shu

by CNB