Taiwan’s politics remain unintentionally in the spotlight worldwide

taketonews

Although it seemed to be tense for a while, Lai Ching-te, the candidate of the ruling Democratic-Progressive Party (DPP), was elected as the new president of Taiwan on Saturday with 40 percent of the votes. His opponent Hou Yu-ih of the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) remained stuck at 34 percent. Together with his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim, an experienced diplomat, Lai stands for continuity. Like outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen, they want to protect Taiwan’s status as an independent democracy without escalating relations with China, which also claims the island.

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<strong>Lai Ching-te</strong>, who was elected president of Taiwan on Saturday, is campaigning in the capital Taipei. ” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/NFevqzCGlP6a5RNyDXxYDKYtLy0=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data110112834-dcc96f.jpg”/></p><p>Elections in Taiwan often serve as a kind of referendum on the relationship with China, in which the ‘green’ DPP, a party that emerged from Taiwan’s democratization movement, takes a more independent stance, while the ‘blue’ KMT, founded in China and moved to Taiwan when it lost the civil war to the communists, looks more positively at cooperation with China. But the growing threat of Chinese interference, with the specter of Hong Kong’s declining democracy, or even armed conflict, creating a need for stability among Taiwanese voters. According to government polls from October, more than 90 percent want to maintain the status quo, with a growing percentage saying they want it “forever.” Politicians in both camps are responding with a China policy that focuses on a stronger army, but is also open to dialogue with China. Compared to four years ago, fewer DPP candidates speak out during the campaign in favor of declaring independence.</p><p>Even more than about China, for many voters these elections were about domestic themes, such as the tight housing market and low economic growth. This is also evident from the surprising emergence of a third candidate, Ko Wen-je, who can also be called a winner of these elections with 26 percent of the votes. Ko, former mayor of Taipei, has emerged as a listening ear for younger generations who are struggling in the current economic climate. “Because I never gave up, you can’t give up either!” he said during a rally on the eve of the elections that attracted more than a hundred thousand young people. A vote for the People’s Party founded in 2019 by ‘professor’ or ‘uncle’ Ko was a protest vote against the age-old conflict between the ‘greens’ and the ‘blues’.</p><h2 class=Chinese print

China sees the DPP as the representative of a Taiwanese identity separate from China and would have preferred a KMT victory. On election day, Taiwan’s defense ministry reported that it counted eight Chinese aircraft and six Chinese ships around the island, typical of recent years as China has increased military pressure on Taiwan. According to Frans-Paul van der Putten, China expert at the Clingendael Institute, it is expected that now that the DPP remains in power, China will also continue its current policy – a combination of economic cooperation and increasing military pressure.

This military threat is not only aimed at the island itself, but also at the United States, which has strengthened ties with Taiwan since 2016. “An important difference with previous elections is that the China-Taiwan relationship is overshadowed by the relationship between China and the US,” said Van der Putten. As long as China and the US continue to worry more about each other and respond by mutually increasing economic and military pressure, the risk of conflict will increase. “There is a good chance that Taiwan is the reason for this. This makes the elections in Taiwan more important than before for the rest of the world, including Europe.”

A polling station employee in New Taipei holds up a ballot paper.
Photo Sam Yeh/AFP

At the moment, tensions between the two superpowers are not at a fever pitch, and the initial reactions of both parties to the DPP victory also indicate that the status quo will be maintained. In line with slightly improved China-US relations in recent months, the China Taiwan Affairs Office said Lai’s victory will not fundamentally change the landscape of China-Taiwan relations, although future reunification remains “inevitable.” Biden, in turn, says the US does not support Taiwanese independence.

No majority in parliament

But the context of this broader geopolitics means that Taiwanese politics inadvertently remains globally relevant. The new DPP government faces more challenges than its predecessor, now that it has lost its majority in parliament during these elections. In parliament, the KMT won 52 seats, against 51 for the DPP. In this new composition of parliament, the DPP will have to make many compromises and a key role is reserved for the Ko People’s Party (8 seats). The results of the parliamentary elections, which also punished the DPP as a ruling party, show how Lai’s victory is also the result of the lack of cooperation between the opposition parties.

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<strong>Hands may have been shaken</strong>, but a final reconciliation attempt by Taiwan’s main opposition parties in Taipei on Thursday ended in chaos. It gives the ruling DPP the best credentials in the January elections. ” class=”dmt-article-suggestion__image” src=”https://images.nrc.nl/zIM5gtNddQDCGG8-6YGJlJq9soY=/160×96/smart/filters:no_upscale()/s3/static.nrc.nl/images/gn4/stripped/data108440069-f1498d.jpg”/></p><p>In his victory speech, Lai spoke of the victory of democracy that this nuanced outcome represents. It is a widely held pride in Taiwan’s current political system, within a society in which almost 70 percent of the 19.5 million eligible voters cast their votes today and in which after the polling stations closed, under public and media supervision, every pink ballot was held aloft, while the selected candidate’s name was read aloud before being noted down.</p><p>This is the first contribution from NRC’s new correspondent in Beijing, Tabitha Speelman.</p><p><dmt-util-bar article=


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