Taiwan’s presidential candidates are waging an all-out charm offensive to woo millions of young people in the lead-up to this weekend’s election, conscious their votes could push them over the finish line.
Both President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progessive Party (DPP), who is seeking a second term, and challenger, Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have taken to social media and television with meme-filled appeals for support as they lay out competing visions for the island’s future.
Of the 19.3 million Taiwanese eligible to vote on Saturday, 3.1 million are below 30 years old, and 1.81 million are first-time voters, according to official data.
Photo: AFP
Tsai has appeared the most comfortable winning over youngsters, who tend to be more progressive on social issues and suspicious of China.
In a move that caused significant social divisions, Tsai’s DPP legalized same-sex marriage last year — a first in Asia.
They also portray themselves as defenders of democratic values against Beijing’s authoritarianism.
Both issues are drums the DPP have beaten relentlessly in their appeals to young voters.
VIRAL VIDEOS
In a video posted to her Facebook page this week that garnered more than one million views, Tsai invoked the months of clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong as a warning for the future.
The clip begins with Taiwanese youngsters going about their lives, playing video games and dancing, before switching to scenes of unrest in the former British colony.
“A few hundred kilometers away, many youths are defending their freedoms with blood and tears,” the narrator says, urging the public to “speak loudly that we choose to stand with democracy, with freedom.”
Another viral video featured veteran pop star Jutopi rapping about issues such as the Tsai government raising wages, legalizing same-sex marriage and promoting democracy.
“The government is doing things for us, we are happy, blessed citizens,” raps long-haired Jutopi, wearing a three-piece suit and fedora.
“We do not bow our heads to others. We are not in the hands of others,” he adds.
Analysts say a high youth turnout would likely benefit the 63-year-old Tsai.
But that has not stopped Han’s more socially conservative KMT from courting their vote.
Han, 62, favors warmer ties with China and has built a campaign around accusing the DPP of imperilling Taiwan’s long-term future by provoking Beijing.
He has projected a plain-talking everyman image to appeal to grassroots voters, and has embraced nicknames such as “bald guy.”
In a recent appearance on a talk show popular with younger viewers, Han displayed his characteristic ability to poke fun at himself as he joked about his hair loss and unveiled an ability to walk on his knees with his legs crossed in the lotus position.
The interview has racked up nearly six million views on YouTube.
When the host apologized for constantly making fun of him on the program, Han replied: “Continue. Everyone is happy. It’s good in a society with a democratic and free atmosphere... Just one request, no jokes about my hairline!”
At televised debates and forums with youngsters he has announced youth-friendly economic promises such as subsidised student exchange programmes and loans for start-ups.
Darren Lu, a 22-year-old student from Kaohsiung, said he supports warmer ties with China as promoted by Han.
“Only with more people coming to Taiwan can we spur economic growth,” he said. “I think it’s not feasible without stable cross-Strait relations.”
But Taipei college student Alice Wu said she is rooting for Tsai.
“I think her reform policies would be good for young people in the long term,” the 20-year-old said.
“And having her as leader again would be good for the status of women.”
Last week the Economist (“A short history of Taiwan and China, in maps,” July 10) and Al Jazeera both sent around short explainers of the Taiwan-China issue. The Al Jazeera explainer, which discussed the Cold War and the rivalry between the US and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), began in the postwar era with US intervention in the Chinese Civil War and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) retreat to Taiwan. It was fairly standard, and it works because it appeals to the well-understood convention that Taiwan enters history in 1949 when the KMT retreats to it. Very different, and far
The tropic of cancer bisects the city of Chiayi (嘉義). The morning heat is, predictably, intense. But the sky is blue and hued with promise. Travelers brave the heat to pose for photos outside the carriages lined up at the end of platform one. The pervasive excitement is understandable. HISTORIC RAILWAY The Alishan Forest Railway (阿里山森林鐵路) was engineered by the Japanese to carry timber from the interior to the coast. Construction began in 1906. In 1912, it opened to traffic, although the line has been lengthened several times since. As early as the 1930s, the line had developed a secondary function as
Like many people juggling long hours at work, Chiharu Shimoda sought companionship via a dating app. For two months, he exchanged messages with five or six potential partners, but it wasn’t long before he was seeking out just one — a 24-year-old named Miku. Three months later, they got married. The catch: Miku is an AI bot. And Shimoda knew that from day one. The 52-year-old factory worker is one of over 5,000 users of Loverse, a year-old app that allows interaction only with generative artificial intelligence. Shimoda’s also among a much bigger cohort of people who’ve either given up or
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) National Congress tomorrow will potentially be one of the most consequential in the party’s history. Since the founding of the DPP until the late 2000s or early 2010s, the party was riven with factional infighting, at times getting very ugly and very public. For readers curious to know more about the context of the factions and who they are, two previous columns explore them in depth: “The powerful political force that vanished from the English press,” April 23, 2024 and “Introducing the powerful DPP factions,” April 27, 2024. In 2008, a relatively unknown mid-level former