Taiwan Insight

Strategic, Economic, Political Interests Shaping Taiwan’s Future

17 July 2019 Editor

Written by Andreas Sierek. Taiwanese cherish their country’s independence, democratic government, protected human rights and personal freedoms. But they also highly value wealth and prosperity. Unfortunately, a majority may become convinced that these values are mutually exclusive and, in the face of the PRC’s demands, choose wealth over freedom.

Taiwan’s 2020 Election: Is the DPP’s Primary Fair?

16 July 2019 Editor

Written by John F. Copper. Could it be that President Tsai’s favourable image improved so dramatically from January to June? It is hard to believe that it did.

Did the DPP leadership manipulate the polls to favor President Tsai? That seems so. Taiwan had never experienced a standing president being challenged in a primary election for a party’s nomination. It would have been traumatic for the party if William Lai had been chosen. Also, his nomination would have imperiled relations with China and the United States.

It Takes Three To Tango: The 2020 Taiwan Presidential Election

15 July 2019 Editor

Written by Mark Wenyi Lai. Ko has seized swing voters from the KMT’s pocket and pushed KMT to the far-right. The stronger this far-right narrative becomes, the greater the swing to pan-green votes. Thus, the weaker the KMT becomes, the more likely that Ko will join the race. The more Ko believes he will win, the more likely that pan-green voters will side with Tsai.

Why Is Tsai Ing-wen’s Popularity Rising?

12 July 2019 Editor

Written by Dongtao Qi. Since the DPP was trounced by the KMT in the November 2018 nine-in-one local elections, most public opinion polls found that compared to other possible presidential candidates, popular support for president Tsai in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election was consistently the lowest. However, about six months before the 2020 presidential election, many polls showed a surprising turn…

From A Two-Party System To Polarized Pluralism In Taiwan

11 July 2019 Editor

Written by Yu-tzung Chang. (…) Taiwanese parties have been “captured” and “marginalised”, gradually losing their vital functions such as political recruitment and aggregation of interests. Parties have become little more than support acts for politicians. The result will be increasingly fluid and polarised politics that has hidden dangers for Taiwan’s democracy.

Unconventional Candidates and Cross-Strait Relations in Taiwan’s 2020 Presidential Campaigns

10 July 2019 Editor

Written by Jacques deLisle. Whoever holds the presidency in Taiwan after 20 May 2020 will need to navigate especially challenging relations with Washington and Beijing. Under Xi, Beijing has taken a tougher line, squeezing Taiwan’s international space, poaching its diplomatic partners, and chilling cross-Strait ties. It is not clear that China’s more demanding and assertive posture stems solely from dissatisfaction with Tsai, whose cross-Strait policy has emphasised stability and continuity.

Unexpected Scenarios and Unpredictable Outcome? A discussion of Taiwan’s 2020 Presidential Election

8 July 2019 Editor

Written by Mei-chuan Wei.
Given the unexpected scenarios in the KMT and DPP primary elections and the aforementioned complex factors that have always impacted upon Taiwan’s politics, the outcome of Taiwan’s 2020 presidential election is uncertain. Another uncertain element is Taipei City Mayor and former doctor at the prestigious National Taiwan University Hospital, Ko Wen-je.

Cross-Strait Relations, Diplomacy Key Variables Behind Support For Han Kuo-Yu: Survey

5 July 2019 Editor

Written by Timothy Rich. Han Kuo-yu surprised many observers with his victory in the Kaohsiung mayoral race in November, the clearest example last year of a Kuomintang (KMT) candidate faring above expectations in a south historically dominated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). This “Han wave” now appears to have propelled Han as a viable presidential candidate for the January 2020 elections…

Taiwan’s 2020 Election: The Making of the Pro-China and Anti-China Blocks in Taiwanese Society

3 July 2019 Editor

Written by Ljavakaw Tjaljimaraw. Ma Ying-jeou’s two-term presidency between 2008 and 2016 represented a short window of laying Taiwanese society wide open to China’s United Front infiltrations before the election of Donald Trump in the US unveiled a new era referred to as the “New Cold War” or the “Cool War.”

Taiwan’s 2020 Election: The KMT’s Downturn and the DPP’s Emergence in the Game of Thrones

2 July 2019 Editor

Written by Ljavakaw Tjaljimaraw. This strategy did work in the short run in terms of party competition. From 2000 to 2008, the DPP, despite playing as Team America B, found itself caught between two unfavourable situations. On the one hand, the KMT’s “Go West” advocates stirred up an avaricious “China craze” of United Front-driven bonuses, bribes, or subsidies handed out to people from all walks of life.

Taiwan’s 2020 Election: A Battle between Team America and Team China

1 July 2019 Editor

Written by Ljavakaw Tjaljimaraw. While Taiwan is still in a state of limbo over who will win out among the candidates running for the presidency, the overall pattern of the 2020 election is becoming quite clear: it will be, for the first time, a battle between “Team America” and “Team China,” instead of the competition between Team America A and Team America B that appeared in the course of Taiwan’s democratisation in the 1990s.

The 30th Golden Melody Awards and Taiwan’s Democratization

28 June 2019 Editor

Written by Chen-Yu Lin. 30 years since inception the Awards are still presented by the Ministry of Culture, but have also become a stage where musicians are free to make political statements.

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