On June 23, about 100,000 people braved the rain to attend the “Get lost, red media” rally organized by fitness celebrity Holger Chen (陳之漢) and New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard. A large majority of the participants were young people and it feels like Taiwan might be in for another change.
The organizers are not spiritual leaders of a big political party or some other big organization that could mobilize people. Most people went because the rally reflected their views. Young people understand that everyone is responsible for the nation’s future.
This burgeoning new youth movement is a more evolved version of the 2014 Sunflower movement, as part of that movement has been co-opted by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) with his view that “people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family” and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) slogan “Kaohsiung will be rich.”
However, learning from reality and seeing the gradual manifestation of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s achievements and the deepening protests against a proposed extradition bill in Hong Kong, young Taiwanese are waking up. To them, Hong Kong is a real-life example of why they cannot be part of some Chinese family or rely on China to get rich.
There are no organized links between young people in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Seeing images of young Hong Kongers struggling against police violence was enough to arouse a response.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) focus on her “smart Taiwanese cookie” image has improved her support rating, while Han and Ko are sinking in the polls. The pan-blue and pan-green camps must pay attention to the change among young voters if they want to stay relevant and take a fresh approach to new issues.
If the Sunflower movement was the change that put the DPP back in power, change in the future will consist of the younger generation cutting all ties with China’s representatives in Taiwan. The Sunflower movement was the young generation’s rejection of the cross-strait service trade agreement and closing the door on the enemy. This time it is about eliminating the Chinese Communist Party’s fifth column in Taiwan and safeguarding national security.
With the long period of party-state government in Taiwan, the influence of the old forces is deep and complex, making it difficult for the DPP’s reforms to gain traction. Still, it is clear that there is bottom-up mainstream support for reforms, so the DPP should be bolder. It should not be reckless, of course, and move forward in an orderly, step-by-step manner, but it could move a bit faster.
Han has lost momentum; Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) will not be able to win the young generation’s trust due to the close relationship between his wealth and China; and Ko will begin to lose the support of young people if he continues to see Taiwan and China as family.
The DPP cannot afford to be complacent, nor should the NPP push too hard. Taiwan-centered parties and groups should treasure the current situation, disregard minor differences, take advantage of the favorable international situation and work together to build a new Taiwan.
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
Translated by Perry Svensson
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
About 6.1 million couples tied the knot last year, down from 7.28 million in 2023 — a drop of more than 20 percent, data from the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs showed. That is more serious than the precipitous drop of 12.2 percent in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the saying goes, a single leaf reveals an entire autumn. The decline in marriages reveals problems in China’s economic development, painting a dismal picture of the nation’s future. A giant question mark hangs over economic data that Beijing releases due to a lack of clarity, freedom of the press
RSS