国民党任命吴敦义为代理党主席

Taiwan's ruling party has named a new acting chief, after the island's pro-China president Ma Ying-jeou stepped down as party chairman following a thumping defeat in local elections.

在亲中国大陆的台湾总统马英九(Ma Ying-jeou)辞任国民党主席一职后，国民党已任命第一副主席吴敦义担任代理党主席。在此前的周末，国民党在台湾地方选举遭遇惨败。

President Ma, who wanted the self-governed, democratic island to forge closer links with China - in a country deeply divided over whether to profit from extra Chinese investment or isolate itself from Beijing to safeguard its freedoms - resigned from his role as head of his Kuomintang party on Tuesday.

周二，马英九宣布辞去党主席职务。一直以来，他希望自治、民主的台湾岛与中国大陆发展更紧密的联系。但台湾民众对于是要争取更多大陆投资、还是疏远北京方面以捍卫自身自由的问题上，存在很大分歧。

He will, however, remain president until the end of his term in 2016.

马英九将继续担任总统职位，直到2016年任期届满。

On Wednesday, the KMT said(link in Chinese) that vice president Wu Den-yih would step up to the role of acting chairman, to replace Mr announcing his resignation as party chair, Mr Ma said in an emotional speech (Chinese) that he was "very ashamed" about the "unprecedented" local election defeat. He added that he bore the most responsibility for the situation and was deeply apologetic, saying "maybe I was not good enough".

马英九在宣布辞任党主席时发表了令人动情的讲话。他说，他对国民党在地方选举中遭到的“前所未有的”挫败感到“惭愧”。他补充称，他必须为败选负起最大责任，向大家诚恳道歉，表示“也许我做得不够好”。

The local polls, in which the KMT was heavily defeated by the pro-independence Democratic People's Party, have led to predictions that the DPP could also triumph in the 2016 presidential elections.

在此次地方选举中，国民党惨败给支持台湾独立的民进党(DPP)。这也导致有人预测，民进党可能会在2016年总统大选中获胜。

That could lead to heightened tensions across the Taiwan strait, with repercussions felt across Asia and beyond if Beijing decides to flex its muscle over the island it regards as a breakaway territory.

倘若如此，可能导致台海两岸关系紧张加剧——如果北京方面决定对台湾采取武力威胁，那么整个亚洲及亚洲之外地区都将受到影响。

Under Ma's KMT, China has courted Taiwan as an ally in its ongoing territorial and political disagreements with Japan. But Beijing also maintains it will invade the island should it ever push for its formal independence to be recognised.

在马英九任内，中国大陆一直致力于对台湾发展友好关系，将其作为应对中日领土与政治分歧的一个盟友。但北京方面也坚称，如果台湾追求外界认可的正式独立地位，那么将对台湾动用武力。