When Taiwanese and Hong Kong tour agencies began offering a four-day package tour focusing on Taiwan’s election culture, spaces sold out quickly. As there were only 30 seats available, and given that elections and democracy in Taiwan are especially relevant to people in Hong Kong at this moment due to pro-democracy protests in the territory, the popularity of the tour is not surprising.
What is interesting is that according to yesterday’s report by the Taipei Times, the tour is not just about the elections — but also presenting a brief overview of how Taiwan got to this point from an authoritarian military state. In addition to attending political rallies and watching election results live on TV, the tourists are also to learn about the nation’s history of social and political movements, and visit the Jingmei Human Rights Memorial and Cultural Park.
While it is unlikely that someone without any special interest in the topic would come all the way from, say, Europe, just to spend their entire time learning about Taiwanese election politics — which could be quite entertaining if presented in a humorous way — the tour is still a wonderful idea that could be incorporated into an itinerary in Taiwan over the next month.
Those who are used to the nation’s election frenzy might forget how unique Taiwan’s situation is in Asia. People should be proud of what Taiwan has accomplished in terms of freedom and human rights in such a short time. The election culture, precisely due to how crazy it can get, is a testament to this. For example, there have been LGBT+ tours to show visitors the landmarks and events that finally made Taiwan the first nation in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, so election tours would make sense.
Tourists could be taken to the National 228 Memorial Museum or other sites to understand the White Terror era and Taiwan’s not-so-glorious past and transition to democracy, but spending perhaps just a day personally experiencing its intense election culture is a concrete and tangible way to understand the nation’s values and the freedom its people enjoy. There are less than three weeks to go before the elections, but people will still be visiting Taiwan and they should be encouraged to see what is going on.
At least it is much better than continuing to rely on gimmicky installations for the sole purpose of selfie-taking. These sites continue to pop up nationwide and add little value to understanding anything about Taiwan, likely drawing only local tourists and deeply disappointing foreigners. Tourism is changing fast and there have been many efforts by tour companies to offer more meaningful experiences, with the election tour’s “Walk in Taiwan” being a prime example.
However, its Web site shows that, while including intriguing destinations such as Taipei’s former and current red-light districts, as well as early-morning wholesale markets, most of the tour is cultural. Taiwan’s politics and road to democracy are what have made this nation, and while there are excellent museums and exhibits about its recent history, this part seems somewhat understated when advertising to tourists.
Taiwan is a beautiful nation with vibrant cultures, and that would still be the main draw. However, experiences like election tours are key to understanding Taiwan’s current affairs, which is what it desperately needs in the face of Chinese oppression.
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
RSS