Politics is a bit like sailing through rough seas without proper navigational instruments: there’s a general idea as to the destination, but how to get there is very much an exercise of trial and error, triangulation, improvisation and adjustments. The benefits of adjustments – their indispensability, in fact – are often underappreciated, as the human tendency is …
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) resounding victories in the joint presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 16 are both a signal of strength as well as a mild disappointment, falling just short of expectations of a true electoral avalanche. At first glance this was unquestionably an emphatic victory. The DPP’s presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) won …
The bluster and inevitable scorched-earthness of the Jan. 16 elections are at long last behind us. As expected, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been elected president, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has gained a majority in the Legislative Yuan, a first in Taiwan’s history. For all its impressiveness, the DPP’s decisive electoral successes last month …
Reform is painful. Because of this pain, we dare not reform, but that constitutes a dereliction of duty by leaders. This country has too many problems that demand reform. But if the nation’s leaders only think of power, their reforms will be weakened by “discounts” before they are implemented. I don’t want to be someone …
My colleague Yufen Chang and I recently completed a faculty-led study abroad trip to Taiwan for three weeks, a program which focused on Taiwan’s democratization and the 2016 election. Most of the students had some background in Chinese language (ranging from one semester to four years), but few had been to Taiwan before. One student …
After nearly eight years of relative tranquility in the Taiwan Strait, voters on January 16th handed Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) a potentially disruptive strong mandate. The island nation not only elected the country’s first female president, but also gave the pro-Taiwan DPP control of parliament for the first time ever. Occurring just two months after the …
Since 2008, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have maintained a diplomatic truce, ending a decades-long competition over formal diplomatic recognition. For much of the Cold War, both sides competed for recognition largely from newly independent countries as a means of bolstering their claims regarding who was the legitimate government of all of …
Seemingly incapable of coming up with a campaign platform that can resonate with the general public, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) has instead turned her rhetorical guns on the very thing that on Jan. 16 will decide who Taiwan’s next president will be: the people. Besides being a stunningly poor decision …
Richard C. Bush III is a distinguished commentator on U.S.-Asia relations who over a long career (including a stint as chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan) has made signal contributions to American standing in the western Pacific. In an article published this week by the Brookings Institution (his present home), Bush offers sound advice …
Following Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) resounding victory on Saturday, the mood in Taiwan has been significantly upbeat. A Liberty Times editorial celebrated Tsai’s historic win. Tellingly, even the typically blue-inclined United Daily News published an editorial praising Tsai’s victory as a win for the Taiwanese people. While most media in Taiwan celebrated Tsai’s win, across the …
Speaking one or two minority languages in election time isn’t enough. The candidates must commit to protecting and promoting them All the presidential candidates in the current election have proved themselves to be multi-linguists, mastering many of the languages spoken in Taiwan. But with Mandarin the dominant language throughout Taiwan, is it enough for candidates …
The new president must be open to various alternatives, particularly towards cross strait relations and Taiwan’s international participation With the election of Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) two months ago comes a new wave of hope and aspirations for the people of Taiwan. This was a major political victory for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and hopefully …
Young voters in Taiwan have a detailed understanding of the politics of their country and take a keen interest in seeing the election of politicians who can make Taiwan a better place With youth shaping up to be a deciding factor in Taiwan’s Jan. 16 elections, the main political parties have directly appealed to the …
The last few months have not been kind to China’s leaders. Things started going south for them in early August when the formerly fawning international commentariat widely panned them for a series of dubious moves on economic policy, including a botched attempt to bludgeon a falling stock market into submission and their hasty devaluation of …
The aftershocks of the Nov. 29 nine-in-one election earthquake that delivered a spectacular defeat to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) are still being felt, and already another campaign is about to take full swing: The combined presidential and legislative elections, which will be held on Jan. 16 next year. For better or worse, cross-strait relations …
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) stated in July that he was considering another presidential run, citing that both the KMT and DPP had been “hijacked by fundamentalists”. Meanwhile, Soong’s party announced five district candidates for the next year’s legislative election. Last week, Soong officially entered the race. Although Soong also ran in …
It was a problem during the 2012 elections, and it’s going to be a problem again less than three weeks from now: Because of the timing of their final exams set by the Central Election Commission (CEC) and inflexibility on the part of the Ministry of Education (MOE), a number of Taiwanese students probably won’t …
It may be possible to argue that China has moderated its stance toward the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) over the past year or so, amid growing indications that the party will come to power following Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 16, 2016. The fact nevertheless remains that Beijing’s attitude toward the DPP is …
Once again today, Taiwanese media exhibited the kind of politicization and flexibility with the facts that time and again have served to undermine the credibility of the fourth estate with news consumers here and abroad. As the elections approach, those practices will likely become more frequent and increase the great amount of noise that we …
What a difference a decade can make! On the night of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Lien Chan’s (連戰) defeat to incumbent president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan’s 2004 presidential election, Lien’s discombobulated running mate, James Soong (宋楚瑜), was caught on video vowing to an angry crowd that …