Two visions are facing off in Taiwan’s election as China looms large
Ko Wen-Je: A Third-Party Candidate on Taiwan’s Vote for Democracy, Independence, and Self-Governance
Many younger voters feel disillusioned with both the DPP and the KMT, and have flocked to Ko Wen-Je, a third-party candidate on the ballot this year, representing the Taiwan People’s Party, or TPP.
People on the island are concerned about low wages and the rising cost of living. Some believe the DPP hasn’t paid enough attention to the economy over the past eight years of President Tsai’s administration.
That idea has long been unpopular in now-democratic Taiwan, and KMT officials also have moved to the center on cross-strait issues. Like their opposition, the KMT now also advocates for the status quo of sovereign self-governance in Taiwan, without unification or formal independence.
The celebratory nature of campaigning in Taiwan does not mean that people on the island aren’t taking the election seriously. As every election approaches, the issue of China takes center stage.
Posters of the presidential candidates and their running mates are displayed on billboards, street lamps, and the sides of buildings in Taiwan.
Su says she’s wearing a bright pink vest (her campaign color) because she looks good in it and it flatters her skin, even when she isn’t wearing any makeup.
Over loudspeakers, Su calls out her thanks to people who voted for her, and occasionally bursts into song. Her supporters wave from street corners and doorways and give her two thumbs up.
As part of their campaigns, legislative and presidential candidates often ride in caravans through their districts, standing on open truck beds to wave to their constituents for hours at a time.
At one reelection rally for a DPP legislator named Su Chiao-hui, volunteers dress in bright green vests and hand out steaming, fresh baoand campaign souvenirs. Other candidates take photos with supporters, and current president Tsai Ing-wen even makes an appearance to show her support.
Meanwhile, campaign events hosted by the rival Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are generally quieter, but no less festive. The current vice president of the party is running to be the island’s new president and is favored to win.
She tells NPR that she goes to every KMT rally. I would like the KMT to work for peace. I don’t want independence for Taiwan. I want good relations with the U.S. and China. We are all one family.
One woman, who calls herself Ji Dong Jie — or “excited sister” in Mandarin — is clearly a fixture on the rally circuit. She wears bright red pants, a shiny Mylarboas and high heels. Her big fluffy pink hat is adorned with two Taiwanese flags that wave in the air as she leads the crowd in an impromptu dance.
In many instances, the musician is the most important person at the rally — besides the candidates, of course — for one simple reason: they provide the emotion.
Why Japan is China, Why China is China: Why the DPP is too pro-China and why China should take care of its people’s needs
China has given no indication of budging on its position that Taiwan is Chinese territory. It’s important to buy time, even though he doesn’t know the end game of better relations.
Taiwan is a shining example of freedom, democracy and inclusivity. The government minister is a trans woman and we have one of the world’s most open societies. It has been years of hard work, smart policies and entrepreneurial thinking that have lead to high standards of living and made us the heart of the Semiconductor industry.
Su thanks her father and generations that left a better Taiwan where people can live and speak freely. She said that she now has to leave Taiwan in a better place for her children, and for future generations to come, because it is her responsibility to preserve that freedom.
If the DPP’s Lai wins the presidential election, Hsu says his party is due for an ideological soul-searching on this issue. Too many people think the KMT is too pro-China. He thinks the party ought to listen to the voices of younger generations.
“We are dealing with a China very different from [what the] KMT dealt with in the last 30 years,” Hsu said. “We should recognize its ambition and be cautious of it.”
Taiwan has peacefully democratized with the help of election by election: A speech by Taiwan’s elected legislator Su Chiao-hui
The lead vehicle has a lot of people standing on the bed. One man riffs constantly into a loudspeaker, announcing to the people of the 5th District of New Taipei City that their elected legislator Su Chiao-hui is here.
Su claims that Taiwan has peacefully been democratized with the help of election by election. Today’s DPP has become an establishment political force. President Tsai Ing-wen has been in power for eight years; her Vice President Lai Ching-te is favored to win Saturday’s election in a close contest.
“We are a party founded under the shadow of a one-party state,” Su said in an interview with NPR. We wanted more freedom and democracy. And we’ve never stopped pursuing that.”
Lai has vowed to continue President Tsai’s agenda on international relations. Su is running for a third term in office and she is the daughter of a party elder.
China remains unconvinced. Despite the fact that cross-strait diplomatic relations will remain frozen under a new government, its government refused to meet with President Tsai and called him a “separatist”.
“It’s not us – it’s China that has rejected talks with the DPP,” Su said. “Actually, the DPP would be very happy to engage in reciprocal talks with China.”
“[The opposition] keeps bringing up the example of Ukraine and Russia, claiming that Ukraine instigated the war with Russia by trying to join NATO,” Su said. “It is almost as if they’re saying that Taiwan shouldn’t try to make any friends on the global stage because it could lead to war with China, and that you should Vote for theDPP instead of the other way around.”
“It doesn’t matter which political party is in power in Taiwan,” Su said. “As long as that party is Taiwan and they’re running it as a sovereign state, Beijing will always be unsatisfied.”
There was an at-large legislator. In Taiwan, a number of legislative seats are allotted to the parties that receive the most votes, and citizens vote for the representative they want in their district. As they see fit, parties can assign those seats to their legislators.
Taiwan President Donald J. Hsu: From the Sunflower Movement to a Second Generation of Leaders and a Celebrating Candidate in the House of Representatives
It was here, in 2014, that protesters occupied the building for about a month – touched off by the then-KMT government’s trade agreement with China. It came to be known as the Sunflower Movement, and it was led by students.
Hsu supported the protesters by donating server space, through his company at the time. And the Sunflower Movement inspired him to get into politics, first as a government advisor on youth policy and entrepreneurship. He was later recruited by a party that was protesting the students.
“I realized you have to be in the government to change it,” he said. “And you have to be willing to be on both sides and to build that bridge.”
“[The KMT] wanted someone with fresh thinking, no political baggage, not a second generation of politician … I hesitated because that doesn’t really fit 100% well with my ideology, but I felt, you know, maybe being inside, I can create some chemistry change within this old party.”
He says he is a member of the progressive wing of his party. He was an outspoken supporter of same-sex marriage, which led to disagreement between him and more conservative KMT elders.
At the time, anti-gay protesters also made their way down to the Legislative Yuan. He says that people made life-size dolls of him and then whipped them as though he were an effigy.
Source: As China looms large, two opposing visions face off in Taiwan’s election
The Chinese-English Correspondence: Two to Tangle, and How to ‘Kick the Can’ (Taiwan), with the Taiwanese Prime Minister
It takes two to tango, according to Hsu. There needs to be an understanding of the red line on both sides. I’m pretty sure the KMT has been able to thread that line and create an ambiguity for both sides to allow room for survival and resistance.
Taiwan and China are at the moment, that isn’t a satisfying answer. We believe that the best way to deal with the situation is to kick the can.
Besides the China tensions, domestic issues dominated the campaign, particularly an economy that was estimated to have grown just 1.4% last year. That partly reflects inevitable cycles in demand for computer chips and other exports from the high-tech, heavily trade-dependent manufacturing base, and a slowing of the Chinese economy. But longer-term challenges such as unaffordable housing and wage stagnation topped voters’ concerns. The candidate with the most votes wins, with no runoff. The legislative races are for districts and at-large seats.
Candidates concluded their campaigns Friday night with stirring speeches, but younger voters were mostly focused on their economic futures in a challenging environment.
The election of the candidate of Beijing-favored Kuomintang, the mayor of Taipei City, China, is a political process in chaos
Hou Yu-ih, the candidate of Beijing-favored Kuomintang, also known as the Nationalist Party, cast his ballot in New Taipei City, a municipality bordering the capital, Taipei. Hou is the mayor of New Taipei, a position from which he took leave to run for president. Hou told reporters after voting he needed a chaotic election campaign. “But after the vote, we must be united and face the future of Taiwan together.”
The peace and stability of the island off the coast of China that Beijing claims as its own, is at stake if necessary. Domestic issues such as the sluggish economy and expensive housing also featured prominently in the campaign.
