TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's opposition parties have claimed victory in crucial legislative elections, defeating President Chen Shui-bian's pro-independence coalition following a tight race.

"We have exceeded more than half the total legislative seats. We thank the voters for their support," opposition Nationalist Party official Lin Feng-cheng told reporters, The Associated Press said.

The official said the opposition coalition had won 116 seats.

Cheng Wen-tsan, a spokesman for the president's party, conceded defeat. "We haven't reached our target," AP quoted him as saying.

The Central Election Commission said the opposition had won 90 of the 176 seats that are directly elected by voters, while the president's group won 76 seats, AP reported.

The other 10 directly elected seats were unconfirmed, the commission said.

The remaining 49 of the legislature's 225 seats will be divided up according to the number of votes each party received in the direct election.

The result is likely to come as a relief to Beijing, which has been angry about Chen's pro-independence stance.

Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had been favored to increase its control of the legislature and possibly win an absolute majority.

But a disorganized and divided opposition apparently rallied to keep its grip on parliament.

Chen had urged voters to make history by giving his coalition control of the legislature for the first time -- a move that would have further increased tensions with China.

Some observers saw the vote as a referendum on the president's attempts to assert independence from China -- which claims that self-governed Taiwan is Chinese territory and must eventually accept Beijing's rule.

For the last four years, the opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, has controlled the legislature, causing a domestic gridlock and restraining of Chen's ambitions.

Saturday's vote was the first in Taiwan since Chen narrowly won re-election in the island's presidential election in March.

Chen pushed a platform of even greater separation from China as he led his party into Saturday's vote.

The president said he would push for radical changes if his party took control of the legislature.

Chief among those changes would have been a new constitution -- a step Beijing explicitly has warned could lead to war.

Turnout was high at an estimated 65 percent, with 15 million eligible voters charged with choosing members of the island's legislature.

After casting his ballot, Chen didn't mention China, but he promised his party would bring stability and unity to Taiwan.

"This is a historic day. I believe Taiwan's 23 million people will use a democratic vote to change Taiwan's history," AP quoted Chen as saying.

People First Party leader James Soong said he was confident that his party would do well. "I hope this election can restore the society's peace and quiet," he said after voting.

Chen's DPP had predicted that its coalition -- including the small, pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union -- would win a slight majority of 113 seats.

Chen had pledged to streamline the government and make it more efficient.

He also had said Chinese leaders would stop rejecting his calls for talks because they would realize he was a political force that must be reckoned with.

Chen had promised to change the name of state-run firms like China Airlines so they use "Taiwan" -- and do the same with the island's offices in dozens of countries, including the United States, that have official diplomatic ties with Beijing.

The Bush administration has feared that Chen would upset the delicate status quo between Taiwan and China and prompt Beijing to make good on its threat to use force to prevent Taiwan from becoming independent.

"These changes of terminologies for government-controlled enterprises or economic and cultural offices, in our view, would appear to unilaterally change Taiwan's status, and for that reason we're not supportive of them," U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli has said.

As Taiwan's most important ally and the main source of weapons for the island's armed forces, U.S. officials hoped Chen would get what is, by diplomatic standards, an exceptionally blunt message.

Instead he accused Washington of doing Beijing's bidding and declared, "I refuse to compromise."

Diplomats and political analysts say U.S. President George W. Bush -- who has been preoccupied with Iraq -- is not pleased.

"The president himself is frankly more than a little irritated and would like to see a lot of cooperation from Taiwan," Kenneth Lieberthal of the Brooking Institution has said.

CNN's Senior Asia Correspondent Mike Chinoy contributed to this report.

Chen and his wife cast their votes early on Saturday.