Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has made a remarkable journey: Three years ago, after the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) defeat in both the legislative and presidential elections, she had the unenviable task of trying to get the party out of the doldrums. Today, after winning the primary to become the DPP’s presidential candidate, Tsai has already made history as the nation’s first female presidential candidate.
Next year, she has an excellent chance of beating the incumbent, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Her popularity has soared after winning the DPP presidential primary on April 27. Many opinion polls show that she is neck and neck with Ma. Some polls even show her edging ahead.
What are the reasons for this amazing turnaround?
For one, it is Tsai herself.
She has been low-key and unassuming, but at the same time has shown steely persistence in working the DPP back into the position of a viable opposition party. She has intelligently and systematically solved problems, and moved the DPP into a position where it can get broad support from the populace. She has been able to regain the trust and support of the party that was lost in the tumultuous days at the end of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration.
Since becoming chairperson of the DPP, Tsai has brought many changes to the party. She proved that her soft, moderate approach was more effective with floating voters. She has broadened the power base of the DPP by attracting young voters.
She has also lifted political debate to a higher level with her soft-spoken style, and her rational and analytical approach to issues. Her leadership style is in stark contrast to that of Ma. Tsai has the ability to connect and reach out to grassroots supporters, while Ma is aloof and has never been able to shed his elitist image.
Ma himself also helped bring about a turnaround in the fortunes of the DPP. He came to office by touting an image of competence and experience, but this image suffered severely when his government seemed incapable of reacting adequately to Typhoon Morakot in August 2009, while a series of subsequent blunders further undermined the credibility of his administration.
However, Ma suffered his most significant loss of credibility through his most touted achievement: his China policy.
During the 2008 election campaign he had championed his close association with Taiwan and its future. He went down south for several “home-stays” and generally emphasized how he “belonged” to Taiwan.
However, after his inauguration, he started to travel a diametrically opposite course: that of enhancing relations with China. One agreement after another was penned, culminating in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which was presented as a panacea that would lift the nation out of its economic malaise.
While all this happened, a significant erosion took place on a number of fronts. Ma’s policies undermined Taiwan’s sovereignty, its democracy and its judicial system. Time and again, Ma focused narrowly on relations with China at the expense of basic freedoms.
Each time, Tsai was there to remind Ma — and the public — that Taiwan needs to stay true to the principles of freedom and democracy, that economic growth should not take place at the expense of workers, that relations with China are no substitute for Taiwan’s own space.
The road ahead will not be easy, as the entrenched KMT party machine will do whatever it can to twist the rules of the game and tilt the playing field so that it can retain power, but Taiwanese want change they can believe in.
Tsai is giving them a vision of the road ahead.
Chen Mei-chin is a commentator based in Washington.
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to