Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, sweeps to re-election, setting the stage for chilly relations with China
Against the backdrop of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the stakes for both Taiwan and China were high.
China must abandon threats of force against Taiwan, neither side should deny the other’s existence, the future of Taiwan must be decided by its 23 million people and both sides must be willing to sit down and discuss their relationship, she said. Analysts pointed to pressure from China, beginning with a hardline speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping last January and continuing with the Hong Kong protests, as a key factor in her victory, after missteps early in her term had damaged her popularity.“They wanted a president who could handle China,” said Shelley Rigger, a professor at Davidson College and a visiting researcher with National Taiwan University’s College of Social Sciences.
Han and the Kuomintang, or KMT, argue that closer ties with China are necessary to grow Taiwan’s economy, though they do not support the “one country, two systems” model of Hong Kong. Since U.S. President Richard Nixon visited China in 1972 — followed by the formal American recognition of China in 1979 — most countries have granted diplomatic recognition to China and not Taiwan, which is shut out of major international organizations like the United Nations.
Though KMT officials say they do not support that framework, Xi’s strong language swung momentum in the DPP’s direction, as did the Hong Kong protests. With Taiwan’s democracy still young and the threat of China looming, few on this island of 23 million take the right to vote for granted. In the last presidential election four years ago, a record 80% of eligible voters cast ballots.
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