TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S presidential election rivals traded accusations over the stuttering economy and relations with China as they faced off on Sunday in their last head-to-head debate before the March 22 vote.

With former Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang holding an apparently unassailable lead in opinion polls, the televised encounter was seen as one of the last chances for rival Frank Hsieh to make inroads.

Mr Ma's campaign strategy has focused on ways to revive the economy, using the same promises of growth and jobs that propelled the KMT to a sweeping victory in January parliamentary elections.

'It has come to the point that people cannot stand it any more,' he said.

He pledged to revitalise the economy by allowing Chinese to invest in the local property market, introducing more Chinese tourists and launching direct transport links with the mainland.

Mr Ma is in favour of closer ties with China, which sees the island nation as part of its territory awaiting reunification - by force if necessary - while Mr Hsieh and the DPP lean toward independence.

'I do agree on opening up chartered flights, allowing more Chinese tourists and things like that,' Mr Hsieh retorted, 'but Taiwan's sovereignty must not be sacrificed.'

He said he was strongly opposed to Mr Ma's proposal of a 'common market' with China, saying that recognising Chinese qualifications would threaten the jobs of Taiwanese workers.

'No national leader should rest the hopes of his country on the 'goodwill' of another country,' particularly one hostile to Taiwan, he added, noting that China had more than 1,000 missiles pointing toward the island.

While Mr Ma says his 'common market' would help revitalise the economy, a key concern for voters, Mr Hsieh insists it would be tantamount to creating a single 'China market' that would undermine Taiwan's sovereignty.

The latest opinion poll published late on Saturday - one of the last allowed before the election - showed Mr Ma increasing his lead over Mr Hsieh.

While Mr Ma saw his support unchanged at 54 per cent from a week earlier, Mr Hsieh slipped two points to 28 per cent, according to the survey carrried out by the television network TVBS.

According to the survey, 40 per cent of those questioned said they favoured Mr Ma's proposed 'common market' with China, with 28 per cent against.

To beef up his theme of economic renewal, Mr Ma has promised annual growth of six per cent, up from the currently estimated 4.5 per cent, and a three per cent drop in unemployment within eight years if elected.

Whoever wins the vote will succeed outgoing President Chen Shui-bian, who will retire when his second and last four-year term ends in May.

March 22 will also see Taiwanese vote on referendums on joining the United Nations. It lost its seat to China in 1971 and has tried ever since to return, only to be blocked by Beijing. -- AFP

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