The leader of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai Ing-wen, promised to uphold the island’s sovereignty after winning Saturday’s presidential election with over half of the vote. Even the new president, Tsai Ing-wen, mentioned the incident in her victory speech.
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The victory will open a new chapter in Taiwan’s history, but the China that the island faces today, is much different from the first time Tsai’s DPP won the presidency in 2000.
(MENAFN – Gulf Times)Tens of thousands rallied in Taiwan yesterday night as presidential candidates made their last bid for votes in an election likely to usher in its first female leader at this weekend’s polls. Her Democratic Progressive Party won 68 of 113 parliamentary seats, giving it its first majority in the assembly long-dominated by the Nationalists.
That was followed by another statement from the Foreign Ministry stating that “China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no division”. While that policy put both China and the USA at greater ease, Taiwanese voters anxious over dependence on their giant, Communist-run neighbour overwhelmingly elected a party that officially supports separating from the mainland. She repeatedly reiterated her pledge to maintain the status quo in relations with China – not to seek independence or unification – while suppressing the pro-independence tone of the DPP. “This has hurt the feelings of all Taiwan’s people”, she said. Reviving Taiwan’s economy, which has been hit by the slowdown in China’s growth, will also be among her key tasks. But the people trust that she can deliver and have given her a strong mandate.
A further backlash against the party’s pro-China stance was prompted by a viral video of 16-year-old Taiwanese entertainer Chou Tzu-yu bowing in apology for waiving the Taiwanese flag on television.
Following World War II, the definition of Taiwanese identity divided residents who had lived on the island from the prewar era and postwar immigrants from mainland China who followed the Kuomintang’s relocation in 1949.
“The results of the Taiwan region election does not change this basic fact and the consensus of the worldwide community”, it added.
Taiwan is a key fault line in the Beijing-Washington relationship.
It is not clear whether Tsai is convinced of these arguments, but she too is very positive about the future of cross-strait relations. “We urge the US side to adhere to one-China policy, not to interfere in China’s internal affairs, to oppose Taiwan independence and to do more for the development of US-China relations and the peaceful development between the two coasts of the Taiwan Strait, and not the other way round”, Hong said at a press briefing.
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When I was young, there was quite a list of countries that were clearly independent but not members of the United Nations: East and West Germany, North and South Korea, Andorra, Qatar, Bhutan, Switzerland, and so on.
