     Despite the ruling Kuomintang's landslide victory in Monday's elec-
tions of local council speakers and vice speakers, party leaders yester-
day condemned the widespread use of violence and vote-buying.
     Yu Kuo-hwa, a member of the Central Standing Committee, said the of-
fenses, apparently committed by KMT candidates in the almost intraparty 
race, have seriously dampened the party's reputation.
     Vice Chairman Hau Peitsun questioned whether regional party offices 
had turned a blind eye to the rampant bribery, or had even helped KMT 
candidates with their illicit activities.
     Both KMT leaders called for an investigation into the matter, to 
punish those who were involved in the illegalities.
     Their criticisms followed an evaluation report on Monday's elections 
presented at the meeting of the decisionmaking Central Standing Committee.
     Responding to the censure and the report, KMT Chairman Lee Teng-hui 
ordered an internal investigation into the irregularities and factional 
clashes that were at the core of the matter.
     According to the report, prepared by the party's Department of Organi-
zation Affairs, the elections were seriously marred by violence, vote-buy-
ing and factional competitions.
     The report points out that the department had attempted to select the 
best candidates through coordination and negotiations between KMT fac-
tions.
     But the factional competition was further worsened by the "overwhelm-
ing interference" of money, causing the race to get out of control by the 
party.
     The factional conflicts will continue to hamper the normal operation 
of local parliaments, and by extension, the development of the cities and 
counties, stated the report.
     It is imperative for the party to seek out ways to settle factional 
differences.
     The report calls on the ruling party and the government to step up 
efforts to "make evaluations and improvements" to curb election offenses.
     Local media have reported that some of the candidates spent close to 
NT$100 million to win their campaigns.  Death threats and shootings have 
also been reported.  In one case, the brother of the speaker at the Tai-
chung County Council was shot and seriously injured.
     Tough competitions between KMT's local factions were behind the de-
viant break in procedure.
     The KMT, as expected, swept almost all the speaker and vice-speaker 
seats in the 21 county and city councils of Taiwan, in races that were 
actually competitions between the ruling party's local factions.
     The local factions, with their political ambitions and alleged con-
nections with gangsters, have always been a headache for the ruling 
party.
     Factional control of the councils brings not only political fame for 
the winning faction, but may also help the group manipulate government 
resources.
     At the Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday, Chairman Lee 
hed to acknowledge this fact when instructing party aides to study and 
seek out ways to solve factional conflicts.
     Yu Kuo-hwa, saying that the party's reputation had been seriously 
damaged by the corrupt election practices, demanded the party to do more 
than "make evaluations and improvements," as suggested by the Department 
of Organization Affairs.
     Vice Chairman Hau Peitsun, despite lauding the department for its 
success in the election, called for an investigation.
     Hau said he could not understand why the KMT candidates still had to 
buy votes in an almost intra-party race.
     Meanwhile, Justice Minister Ma Ying-jeou vowed to continue investi-
gations into vote-buying allegations.
     "These cases... have not yet been closed despite the fact that the 
voting is already over.  We will continue with the investigations," said 
Ma.  But he did not specify which cases.
     A woman who killed her husband after he allegedly and repeatedly beat 
and raped her was sentenced yesterday to five and a half years in jail, 
drawing an immediate outcry from women's rights advocates who called the 
sentence too harsh.
     A judge announced the five year, six month prison sentence against 
Teng Ju-wen, 22, in Panchiao yesterday afternoon in what had been consid-
ered a judicial test case for women abused by their husbands in Taiwan's 
male-dominated society.
     Holding a string of Buddhist beads in her hands, Teng, remained silent 
as the judge read the verdict.
     Teng had testified at her trial that she was first raped by her hus-
band when she was 15 years old, before they were married.  She also testi-
fied that her husband, 20 years her senior, had also raped and abused her 
mother and sister.
     Teng's attorney yesterday immediately announced he would appeal.  Ear-
lier, another defense attorney had promised to launch an appeal if Teng re-
ceived a sentence of more than five years.
     Women's groups, who had brought the case under the public's attention, 
expressed disappointment and anger.
     "We have lost hope in the judges," Wang Ping of the Awakening Foun-
dation told The China Post.  Wang criticized the court for not considering 
the years of brutality Teng suffered from her husband before she killed 
him.
     In his explanation of the verdict, the judge cited the fact against 
Teng that she had killed her husband, Lin Ah-chi, two hours after he had 
gone to sleep, and that she had remembered all the details afterward.
     In her favor, the judge accepted that she had turned herself in to the 
police and commended Teng for her good behavior after she was arrested.  
These two factors had moved the court to use Article 62 of the Criminal 
Code in order to reduce the verdict, the judge commented.
     Wang said she was especially upset because Teng's two sons would re-
mainin the care of Lin's brother.  Before the killing on Oct. 27, the two 
boys had often been cared for by Teng's parents, she said.
     In an interview with the press before the verdict was announced, Teng 
had expressed the hope that her sentence would be delayed for a while so 
she could arrange care for her children, yet in the end that request was 
not considered.
     The cost of the trial will have to be borne by Lin's relatives, the 
judge ruled.
     As to the appeal, Cheng Huei-chi, the secretary-general of the Taipei 
Women's Rescue Foundation said she was not very optimistic while Wang de-
clared she was not overly pessimistic.
     Cheng said a lawyer had told her that, compared to previous cases, a 
minimum sentence of 10 years would have been normal.
     Seen in this light, she said there has been some progress, though she 
thought the sentence should have been less than three years.
     Wen Yueh-mei, who had come all the way from Hsinchu to express her 
support for Teng, said she had not expected a not-guilty verdict, since 
the laws of the Republic of China are still not effective enough to pro-
tect the victims of wife abuse.
     The women's groups will continue their efforts to increase awareness 
of this serious social problem, Wang promised, though no plans for any 
concrete actions were currently ready.
     Activists have repeatedly called for a law against violence in the 
home and for a network of shelters for battered women.  The Teng case is 
now seen by some commentators as a possible catalyst for action to help 
others in a similar situation.
     The Social Affairs Department of the Ministry of the Interior is in-
vestigating the possibility of expanding a 24-hour shelter network for 
abused children to accept women as well.