Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (
The choice builds an atmosphere of unity and increases the momentum for the pan-green camp. There are at least eight reasons why Su's agreeing to be Hsieh's running mate increases the chance of the DPP winning the election.
First, Su has considerable influence thanks to his previous posts, not only inside the DPP, but across the country. This will win the DPP more votes, including those of many Hakka.
Second, Hsieh won the DPP primaries with only 44 percent of the votes, less than half, while Su won 33 percent. This means that they have the combined support of almost 80 percent of the party. Add to that the legislators, mayors and county commissioners who rooted for Su during the primaries, and it's obvious that a Hsieh-Su ticket will succeed in mobilizing the active help of regional pan-green leaders and party officials.
Third, Taipei County is Taiwan's biggest reservoir of votes, and it is predominantly pan-blue. But Su has been elected Taipei county commissioner twice, beating his opponent by 50,000 votes when he was elected for his second term. Consequently, the DPP might lose by only a small margin in Taipei County, or even win by a small margin, and this can contribute a lot to a pan-green victory.
Fourth, President Chen Shui-bian (
Fifth, with Su joining Hsieh, the pan-green camp's important newspapers and talk shows will be in line with the public opinion supporting them, and the media will be able to stir up the enthusiasm of pan-green voters.
Sixth, the fact that Hsieh and Su have joined forces can make up for the rift between factions caused by the party primaries. Yu's supporters are reasonable and will support the combination that has the best chance of winning. Thus, people who supported different candidates in the primaries can now unite, and together they will stand strong.
Seventh, I can already imagine a debate between the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) wishy-washy Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) -- also a former premier -- and a strong Su. It will be like a high school student facing the school principal. It's obvious who will lose that debate, and Su will win the DPP some points here.
Eighth, at the time of the debates for the primaries, Su clearly opposed the "one China" framework in the Constitution, and emphasized that he is in favor of "one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait." Su's running for vice president will help promote the normalization of the country as a major election issue. It will move pan-green voters and lift their fighting spirit. Flying the "Taiwan" banner, the DPP will win next year's election.
It's easy to see the advantages of Su joining up with Hsieh. Now, the most important thing is reaching a consensus on all levels within the DPP to promote smooth cooperation and the prompt creation of a strong election strategy.
Cao Changqing is an independent commentator.
Translated by Anna Stiggelbout
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017