1.   The issue dominated the campaign, prompting many commentators to characterize the election as a virtual referendum on the independence issue.

2.   But neither should Washington provoke China by embroiling itself in the Taiwan independence issue.

3.   Confusion and conflict are exacerbated here by the independence issue.

4.   In speeches, Chen and other Democratic Progressive leaders have begun to backtrack on the independence issue, and the positions of the two major parties have been converging.

5.   The results show that the country is clearly split on the independence issue, and it is unclear how a weakened Djukanovic will go forward.

6.   But Chen prefers to stress his record as a corruption-busting former county executive and play down the independence issue for fear of scaring off voters.

7.   During his trip, the Dalai Lama avoided commenting on the Taiwanese independence issue at public appearances.

8.   Filip Vujanovic said he was returning his mandate after unsuccessful attempts to preserve a coalition government split over the independence issue.

9.   Hu Fu, a political scientist at the National Taiwan University, said Chen won because he distanced himself from the independence issue.

10.   Hsu ducked the independence issue.