Tsai Ing-wen Re-Elected President,
DPP Secures Parliamentary Majority
No.23, January 16, 2020
President Tsai Ing-wen was re-elected in a landslide, garnering the highest-ever recorded vote total for any popularly elected president in Taiwan's history.
(Photo from: United Daily News)
Featured News

KMT Defeated, Tsai Re-Elected, DPP Fully in Power Again

United Daily News, January 12, 2020

PresidentTsai received more than 8.17 million votes, unprecedented in history

 

The results of the 2020 presidential and legislative elections were announced last night. President Tsai Ing-wen won with a landslide of more than 8,170,000 votes, winning 57.13% of the votes, the highest number of votes in the history of elected presidents. The Democratic Progressive Party won 61 seats in parliament, winning more than half of the threshold, and once again fully in power.

 

President Tsai was re-elected with a high number of votes. During her victory speech, she stated that this election shows that when Taiwan ’s sovereignty and democracy are threatened, the people of Taiwan will speak out. She also says that she hopes that Beijing can understand that democratic Taiwan and an elected government by the people will not succumb to threats and intimidation. Mutual respect and positive interaction between the two sides of the strait is what is expected. The result of this election clearly represents that.

 

Appeal to Beijing for peace, equality, democracy, and dialogue

 

President Tsai said that her commitment to the peace and stability of the cross-strait relations will not change, but both sides have a responsibility in ensuring peace and stability. She is again sincerely calling out to Beijing to use “peace, equality, democracy, dialogue.” This is the key to restart a healthy interaction and long-term stable development and is the only way to pull the two closer together so both can benefit.

 

President Tsai also assured the people that she won’t stop reflecting upon what could be done better just because she won. She will make sure what she didn’t do, hadn’t had time to do will be done, and she will try to continuously do more, to build a better country. She says the government must be frugal and efficient, reform must continue to be promoted, the gap between the rich and the poor must be improved, and of course, national security will continue to be strengthened.

 

President Tsai also paid tribute to Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu and People First Party (PFP) presidential candidate James Soong and thanked them for completing this democratic journey together with her. She will take all the constructive criticism during the election process and start her next term of office. She said even if the parties have different political stances, she believes that everyone will have room to work together in the future.

 

KMT Chairman Wu Den-yi resigns, Han says he did not put enough effort

 

Han won around 5,520,000 votes. When he announced his defeat last night, he confessed that he did not work hard enough and live up to everyone’s expectations. He also called President Tsai to congratulate her on her victory. He hopes Tsai can work towards a happy and peaceful life of the citizens, "because there was indeed a period where life has been hard for many."

 

Han said that Taiwan ’s precious democracy, freedom, and rule of law are the treasures of the country. Since the people of the Republic of China have made a decision, as a candidate, he will respect the decision. He hopes to see a united Taiwan and urges everyone, no matter what their job is, to continue to work hard in their own posts. The people who love Taiwan the most in the world are the Taiwanese people. So, we must all work hard to move forward, because the world will not wait for Taiwan, Taiwan must be strong for itself.

 

This time, with the total of 38 seats in the parliament, the KMT has failed to exceed half, another defeat after the 2016 election. Former KMT chairman Hung Hsiu-chu asked Chairman Wu Den-yi to take the main responsibility for this defeat. Wu Dunyi came forward to acknowledge defeat last night, announcing himself, the vice chairman, the secretary general and the senior executives will resign on next Wednesday.

 

The turnout rate of the election was 74.9%

 

According to statistics from the Election Commission, the turnout rate for this presidential election was 74.9%. the DPP won 57.13% and received 8,170,231 votes; The KMT secured 38.61% and received 5,522,119 votes. The PFP garnered 4.26% and received 608,590 votes. 

From: https://udn.com/news/story/11311/4282711

Featured Editorial
Results of the 2020 Republic of China (Taiwan) presidential election.

President Tsai Ing-wen, Re-Elected on Narrative of National Doom, Faces Thorny Domestic Affairs

United Daily News Editorial, January 12, 2020

 

In the 2020 presidential and legislative elections, President Tsai Ing-wen recovered from her party’s disastrous defeat in the 2018 local elections to win another four-year term. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also won the majority seats of the Legislative Yuan and was able to continue its political dominance.

 

The DPP’s rule over the past three years caused widespread discontent, but it is still able to keep the power, mainly because the strategy of manipulating the slogan of “resist China in the interest of protecting Taiwan” and invoking a sense of national doom, in effect  garnering strong support among younger voters and effectively offsetting the discontent from other generations against the Tsai administration. However, after the passion is over, President Tsai must cherish her public trust, cautiously mend existing social rifts, and lead Taiwan to develop in the right direction for the next four years.

 

The election situation in Taiwan has repeatedly swung between the "sovereignty card" and the "economy card", changing its direction to the other end every few years. It was owing to the power of the “economy card” that the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) swept across 15 counties and cities in the 2018 local elections.  But only 14 months later, the pendulum immediately swung back to field of the "sovereignty card."  The key reason for this rapid change is that Chinese leader Xi Jinping raised the "One Country, Two Systems formula for Taiwan" last year. Such an abrupt move provided the DPP with powerful anti-China and anti-KMT ammunition. Later, the turbulence from the Hong Kong protests further increased the DPP's firepower in manipulating the “sense of National Subjugation.”  Unfortunately, the KMT had not been able to adjust its pace in response to changes in the situation. It still repeated the tone of the 1992 consensus, lacking a more active argument and leaving room for the DPP to continue to smear the KMT read, painting the opposition as pro-China.

 

This time, President Tsai made defending national sovereignty the main theme of her election campaign. She fully soaked the young generation in Taiwan with the sense of national doom. The Hong Kong protesters further increased the sense of camaraderie among younger generation in Taiwan and motivated young voters to the polls. However, for the middle-aged and elder generations who have experienced or heard of the Cold War confrontation, comparing Taiwan's status to that of Hong Kong is obviously not convincing. For these generations who must support their families, the economy is good or bad, the society is fair and just or not, and whether democracy is eroded are more important.  In this election process, the phenomenon of "generational conflicts" has apparently appeared. Inter-generational confrontations have taken place in many families, which are caused by different attitudes towards China.  These cracks call for the society to work together to repair in the future.

 

Paradoxically, when the DPP accused the Chinese Communist Party of "meddling in the election" and criticized its secret aid to the opposition party; in fact, every time the Chinese Communist Party made a move, it only provided ammunitions for the DPP and helped the Green Camp with its campaign. If the Beijing authorities fail to grasp this subtle triangular pull between the two sides of the strait, and tread cautiously, it will only get farther and farther from Taiwan's popular sentiment and reality, just as it did when dealing with the Hong Kong issue.

 

Many people are curious: The governance of the DPP has hardly changed since the 2018 election fiasco, still came the victory of the DPP this time. Why are the two election results so divergent?  A reasonable explanation is that the 2018 election was a local election, and voters were more concerned about their own immediate issues; but this time it was the central government election, the focus was drawn to more abstract sovereignty issues. In fact, although the DPP won the election by relying on the "sovereignty card," the opposition parties called into question various national policy issues, including economic stagnation, environmental pollution, democratic retrogression, pork barrel politics, rampant political stooges and cronyism, all of which are real and actually in existence.  After the dust of the election has settled, President Tsai has to return to reality to face the problems and try to solve them one by one. After all, these are the major issues that really affect the people's well-being and are the unavoidable responsibility of the state leader.

 

Although KMT presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu lost the election, his achievement is not to be ignored. Han gained 1.7 million more votes over Eric Chu in 2016. He also called out many supporters who were not originally KMT supporters, and he was able to reconnect the KMT with the grassroots. The problem is that, from the presidential primary to the nomination of at-large legislators, the KMT not only lacked a comprehensive strategy but also continued to have internal interferences such as Terry Gou’s dramatic jumping in and breaking away, KMT Chairman Wu Den-yi’s selfish calculations, anti-Han sentiment among the elite class, and evasive attitude from local leaders, all leaving the people with a very bad impression.  These are far more detrimental than the stigmatization of Han as an unsophisticated “grass bag,” Chairman Wu’s resignation for the defeat was far from enough to compensate for the grievous fault from his leadership deficit. If the KMT does not accelerate the succession of the mid-career generation, its future is worrying.

 

In the past three and a half years, the Tsai administration governed poorly and upset many people but was still able to win re-election by a large margin because of its election strategy. However, the DPP must not misinterpret public opinion, believing that the people's mind is easy to manipulate, and going even further down the path. After all, the sense of national subjugation is easy to sell, but hard to bear fruit. The DPP must meet the challenges of domestic governance seriously, as it is the fundamental way of engaging in responsible politics. 

 

From: https://udn.com/news/story/11321/4282683

Featured Opinion

Stormy Strait and Marginalized Taiwan After 2020 Elections

By Lu Chih-hsiang
China Times,
January 11, 2020

 

In the wake of President Tsai Ing-wen’s re-election, if she has no intention to change her absurd cross-strait and foreign policies, disregard of international political realities, and ignorance of Taiwan’s stagnant national strength, Taiwan’s survival and security will face unprecedented threats.

 

The Tsai administration often touted its stance on protecting Taiwan’s sovereignty and struggling for diplomacy as its merits, the core issue in fact lies in U.S.-Taiwan relations. The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) “anti-China” stance coincides with the U.S. “power competition” strategy. The DPP has shaped the presidential election as “pro-America versus pro-China?” and “Washington or Beijing?” The Washington factor did in fact favor Tsai Ing-wen and the DPP. It is foreseeable that DPP will continue to make good use of the contradiction between the United States and China to strengthen its “pro-America, anti-China” strategy, and the United States is also intended to play the “Taiwan card” against the Chinese Communist Party. However, the seemingly seamless strategy is actually crisis-ridden.

 

If the DPP is mistakenly encouraged by winning again the presidency as to think that the United States is Taiwan’s strong supporter, and that mainland China will not—and not be capable of—attack Taiwan, it may launch more radical policies toward China. To Beijing, DPP’s continued governance represents a major setback to its Taiwan policy, and may intensify its pressure on Taiwan. Besides, Beijing may surmise that the United States may sit idly by in its military action against Taiwan. Leaders on both sides may be overly optimistic, illusive or misconceiving the situation on the ground, making the Taiwan Strait full of dangerous undercurrent.

 

The United States itself is also an unpredictable factor. The “America first” principle and President Donald Trump’s “short-term transactional” diplomatic style has permeated American foreign policy with “unilateralism and isolationism.” Though the American strategy has been re-focused to the axis of confronting China, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the It will unconditionally intervene in military conflicts in the Taiwan Strait, especially the war between them is high intensity in nature, and once the war breaks out, Taiwan will bear the major brunt.

 

The United States will continue to prevent China from invading Taiwan by military force while serving warning to Taiwan not to take the independence road, though its influence and room of maneuvering are gradually diminishing. To mainland China, Taiwan is a core issue, involving territorial integrity and sovereignty, while to the United States, its concern lies in peace and security as well as maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. The disparity of importance cognition is quite clear. In the future competition between the two parties, if Taiwan is still willing to play the role of a chip for the United States, its interests may be wantonly bartered as a chess.

 

International politics is based on national strength. On the one hand, the dynamic military equilibrium across the Taiwan Strait no longer exists and on the other hand, Taiwan’s economy and foreign trade lifelines are facing critical challenges. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has taken effect, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be finalized by the end of the year, but Taiwan has been excluded from the regional economic integration mechanism. If the relationship across the Taiwan Strait continues to deteriorate, and the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) is to be eventually terminated, Taiwan will suffer total catastrophe. Taiwan’s status and importance will be washed away.

 

We can foresee Taiwan’s participation in the international society will be further compressed, as its involvement in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has been insulated. Taiwan’s involvement in the declining WTO and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) are also becoming marginalized. The downward spiraling process is going from bad to worse to Taiwan.

 

Since the direct election of the president in 1996, presidential performance in the second term cannot match with the first term in general. For the overall interests and well-being of the Taiwanese people, President Tsai and the ruling DPP should not repeat their mistakes in the areas of cross-Strait relations as well as foreign policy. Only by so doing can Taiwan’s international status and its people’s dignity be resuscitated.

 

From: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200111004014-262105

 This Week in Taiwan

January 6: In November 2018, Hung-dah Su, a political science professor at National Taiwan University, posted a video on Facebook, criticizing the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for launching a “Cultural Revolution” and destroying the National Palace Museum. The police designated the political speech as “fake news” affecting public tranquility. Hung was summoned by the prosecutor in December 2018. After hearing by the Summary Division of the Shilin District Court, no monetary penalty was imposed. The court held that the video is public commentary and protected by free speech.


January 6:
After nearly nine years of construction, the Suhua Highway Improvement Project finally concluded, and the highway became open to motor traffic. The Directorate General of Highways, Ministry of Transportation and Communication, said that the improved Suhua Highway will save about 59 minutes in travel time between Su’ao Township, Yilan, and Hualien. The total length of the Suhua Highway Improvement Project is 38.8 kilometers, of which the Su’ao to Dong’ao part had opened to motor traffic in February 2019.


January 7:
The Kuomintang (KMT) invited representatives from religious, labor, farmer and fisherman groups to express concerns about the anti-infiltration law. Many worry that upon a future trip to the Chinese mainland, they may be interviewed and tagged as China-friendly. The KMT criticized the law as a new martial law, further curtailing cross-strait communication and exchanges. The KMT called upon the “authoritarian” President Tsai to listen to public opinion sincerely and admit her mistake.


January 11:
The pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, continues to garner international attention. Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on January 8 that it would designate this pneumonia of special unknown cause as an official fifth-class infectious disease. The CDC rebutted on January 11 that the Wuhan pneumonia has spread to Taiwan, clarifying that there has been no confirmed case thus far in Taiwan. From comparisons of coronavirus gene sequencing, it is likely that the pneumonia epidemic is related to a bat coronavirus.


January 11:
Due to devastating defeat in the presidential and legislative elections, KMT Chairman Wu Den-yi assumed responsibility and announced his resignation. The KMT is expected to reorganize and go through a reshuffling of power. On the other hand, the Taiwan Action Party Alliance (TAPA), a new minor political party, failed to secure any regional or at-large legislator seats. The party’s spiritual leader, former President Chen Shu-bian, announced his withdrawal from the political arena.

Taiwan Weekly is a newsletter released every week by Fair Winds Foundation, Taipei Forum, and Association of Foreign Relations that provides coverage and perspectives into the latest developments in Taiwan.

The conclusions and recommendations of any Taiwan Weekly article are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the institutions that publish the newsletter.

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