Pro-China Party Falls As Taiwan Elects First Female President In "Historic" Landslide Election
"We failed. The Nationalist Party lost the elections. We didn't work hard enough,” Eric Chu said on Saturday before taking a long bow in front of a “thin” crowd of supporters.
Chu stepped in to become the Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate in Taiwan’s presidential race when his predecessor was deemed too divisive. The island held two elections on Saturday, one for the presidency and one for seats in the national legislature - The Democratic Progressive Party scored resounding victories in both ballots.
The DPP candidate and former law professor Tsai Ing-wen became the island’s first female president after claiming 56% of the vote in the biggest landslide since the island's first democratic election twenty years ago.
Chu only managed to garner 31%.
Tsai will enjoy a friendly body of lawmakers as the DPP won 68 seats in the 113-seat legislature versus 36 for the Nationalists. Previously, KMT held 64 seats and this will be DPP's first ever majority.
Taiwan has spent eight years under KMT rule and ahead of the ballot, it was readily apparent that voters were ready for a change, with Tsai maintaining a commanding lead in opinion polls:
That, in turn, led Taiwan observers to predict that the legislature would likely fall to DPP as well. “If history is any indication, the KMT may lose its majority in parliament as well, given that for the two occasions when KMT lost the presidential elections (2000 and 2004), it also failed to win the majority of seats against the DPP in parliament,” Goldman wrote, in the days before the election.
The vote raises the specter of conflict with China. "While Tsai has pledged to maintain ties with Beijing, the DPP’s charter supports independence," Bloomberg notes, before ominously reminding readers that "The Chinese Communist Party passed a law allowing an attack to prevent secession in 2005, when the last DPP president, Chen Shui-bian, sought a referendum on statehood."
Underscoring how frosty relations (still) are, sixteen-year-old pop star Chou Tzu-yu had her activities in China suspended by her management company after waving a Taiwanese flag on a South Korean TV program. She was compelled to apologize in a televised address in order to avoid, in AP's words, "offending nationalist sentiments on the mainland."
“I’m sorry, I should have come out earlier to apologize,” she says, in a statement that sounds like it might have been beaten out of someone who shorted Chinese stocks last summer. “I didn’t come out until now because I didn't know how to face the situation and the public."
“There is only one China,” she adds, staring blankly into the camera before promising to behave going forward. “I am proud I am Chinese. As a Chinese person, while participating in activities abroad, my improper behavior hurt my company and netizens on both sides of the Strait. I feel deeply sorry and guilty. I decided to reflect on myself seriously and suspend all my activities in China.”
Chou's predicament was denounced by new President Tsai, who told reporters that "this particular incident will serve as a constant reminder to me about the importance of our country's strength and unity." And by "country" she probably doesn't mean China.
"Although Ms. Tsai has vowed to maintain a broadly stable relationship with mainland China, she remains reticent on specific strategies and has remained ambiguous about the ‘1992 consensus’ which has supported the principle of “one China” although each side has been allowed to interpret it differently," Goldman writes. "Her position has been that this is an option for Taiwan, but not the only one."
Still, analysts say Tsai likely won't move to anger Xi - at least not immediately.
"As long as Tsai doesn't provoke the other side, it's OK," one former newspaper distribution agent who attended Tsai's rally told AP. "Tsai won’t provoke China for sure, but she won’t satisfy its demands," said George Tsai, a politics professor at Chinese Cultural University in Taipei adds.
For his part, Chu just can't seem to figure out where things went awry. "Why has public opinion changed so much? How did our party misread public opinion? Our policy ideas, the people in our camp, the way we communicate with society -- are there major problems there? Why did we fail to self-examine and lose power in the central government and lose our legislative majority?," he asked himself during a concession speech at Kuomintang headquarters.
The answer to all of Chu's questions is simple. "The landslide was propelled by anxiety over stagnant wages, high home prices and dissatisfaction with President Ma Ying-jeou’s polices of rapprochement with Taiwan’s one-time civil war foes on mainland China," Bloomberg writes, summing things up nicely before adding that "Tsai will bear the task of resuscitating an economy expected to have grown last year at its slowest pace since at least 2009."
The quandary here should be obvious: given the slowdown in mainland demand and the yuan deval, this isn't exactly the ideal time for Taiwan to be poking China in the eye with a stick."The election comes at a tricky time for Taiwan's export-dependent economy, which slipped into recession in the third quarter last year," Reuters said after the election. "China is Taiwan's top trading partner and Taiwan's favourite investment destination."
Indeed. Exports to China dropped a whopping 16.4% last month and were down nearly 20% Y/Y in November. Overall, exports fell 13.9% in December and were down 10.6% for the year. Exports to China fell 12.3% in 2015.
As for regional security and the ongoing cold war for two chains of islands in the Pacific, AP goes on to say that "Tsai [has] reaffirmed Taiwan's sovereignty claim over East China Sea islands also claimed by China but controlled by Japan [and] says Taiwan will work to lower tensions in the South China Sea, where it, China and four other governments share overlapping territorial claims."
In short then, Tsai has her hands full. She needs to satisfy her base by scaling back ties with China while keeping cross-Strait relations amicable enough to ensure that trade isn't imperiled at a time when exports are already in free fall. Meanwhile, Taiwan is also mired in the increasingly petulant spat over a series of sparsely populated islands in the region.
Good luck Ms. Tsai and remember, "Big Uncle" Xi is watching...
(7 votes)
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"Ummm.... you obviously know fuck-all about Taiwan."
Obviously more than you.
"I spend a couple of months there every year."
So? You want a cookie? Living somewhere doesn't make you all knowing, of a place. Especially with this new fangled thing called the "internet".
"First off, their new president is no ru-muncher, and isn't socialist at all."
First off lie.
https://unicornbooty.com/taiwan-elects-rad-pro-lgbt-president-tsai-ing-wen/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Green_Coalition
"Secondly, obviously China's miltary is way bigger than TW's and always has been. "
Uh, so?
"But they have no way to get warm bodies across the strait alive."
Really, ms know it all? I didn't say today.
God damn you are a retard.
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2016/01/14/New-tank-l...
http://www.popsci.com/giant-new-supply-ship-extends-chinas-reach-at-sea
http://m.sputniknews.com/asia/20151218/1031990427/china-navy-power-capab...
God Taiwan leftist LGTBT female president ? Taiwan is dead remind me another country to not visit and boycott!
I am full long the nationalist Masculine China !
God (Buda) or anything you want, may protect China from femininazism, Amen !
Stupid Taiwanese people !
Hey moron, your links don't support you claims. So she favors legalizing gay marriage - so what? So do most of the people in Taiwan. It doesn't mean she munches rug herself, fooll
Fuck you twat, you progressive filth are why the West get destroyed, you are WORSE than Muslims !!! Fucking Moron...
It doesn't matter anymore.. Taiwan will become the Asian version of Greece by 2020.. The economy is already down the toilet bowl and now she is facing economic strangle and constant threat by China. 1 out of 3 Taiwanese already holding a foreign passport.. all already to bailout and leave the country at any sign of trouble. Basket case for Taiwan!
chinese men, albeit taiwan, have finally acknowledged their wives really run the show. lol. poor guys. they don't call them dragon ladies for nothing.
"Get out of the kitchen", as they say.
lol. too bad you can't write that with the voice pitch that goes with it.
Taiwan is in a tough position. Caught between the mainland and their ties as well as the various influences from the West. In some respects similar to situations that arise in Japan. These can sometimes by accident or on purpose cause things to get out of balance resulting in big trouble in little china. My apologies for a few recent replies that were slightly oscillating or even polarized. Re-balancing is almost finished. No video.
The United States Military Protectorate of Formosa.
Doesn't matter. Taiwan be annexed within the next decade.
The Chinese president recently declared the "we've achieved overwhelming superiority over corrupted forces resisting reform", markedly different than the statement a few months ago where "the forces of good and evil are in a stalemate, this is a you die I live(im gonna spill your fuckin guts) situation."
Looks like he's won the power struggle against former president Jiang Ze Ming.
You can expect China's policy in regards to Taiwan and Hong Kong and South China Sea to mellow down quite a bit from now on. Not East China Sea tho cause they fuckin hate the Japs.
The West (and its allies) are just 100% committed to suicide at this point. Electing a female leader is the best way to say, "our culture, nation, and people no longer deserve to live, please rape us to death." See: Germany for example A. America if Hillary is elected will be example B.
“I’m sorry, I should have come out earlier to apologize,” she says, in a statement that sounds like it might have been beaten out of someone who shorted Chinese stocks last summer. “I didn’t come out until now because I didn't know how to face the situation and the public."
Here's the apology:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmvfW7XnbJk
And a recent performance by Tzuyu:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoyujZSBrUA
Basically a Chi-Girl version of Menudo. Completely forgettable once you (or they) turn 18.
So, why is the PRC so upset? Because Taiwanese youth by and large do NOT self-identify as Chinese and have been kicking ass about that lately:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-china-youth-idUSKCN0PA2W320150630
Ironically, the apology by Chou will only work to strengthen that attitude, being seen as yet another PRC attempt to manipulate public opinion on the Island.
you forget the economics side of the equation Mr Bear, many entertainers from Taiwan make their money on the mainland.
If they just wanted to stay in Taiwanese entertainment industry, you can give China the finger all you want, and no one from China will be able to do anything about it.
But if you want to have career larger than the island of Taiwan itself and build audience and fans on the mainland, then of course you can't piss off people on the mainland.
This is symptomatic of Taiwan's entire position, they are reliant on China for their economic well-being, whether they like it or not is a moot point.
"you forget the economics side of the equation Mr Bear"
Not at all. I was simply providing background on what this was about. I'm well aware of the economic relation between the two nations. Were YOU aware of how dependent the PRC is on Taiwanese investment and products, especially in high tech? The relationship cuts both ways.
As far as building a market in China goes, yeah... waving little flags won't get you very far, but the irony here is, there's nothing at all political in the content of 16's music or lyrics, unless you consider imitating a Mexican boy band to be controversial.
OTOH, there's a thriving independent music industry in Taiwan which is hugely popular with youth on both sides of the Strait. These artists don't attract attention by waving little flags. Their message is in the lyrics, which are very nuanced and allegorical.
For example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGW_DCRShh8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2eHMBJOUKA
My thinking is, the flag thing was a publicity stunt with very bad timing (circa the election), and thus it backfired. It should really be Chou's record company doing the apologizing. No doubt they put her up to it.
Used to live in Taipei and Puli.
Greens will agitate China and possibly make an independence bid. They're quite confident Uncle Sam has their back.
Please note that a majority of young people WILL NOT fight for their freedom if China ever invades or otherwise militarily reclaims TW. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2011/nov/30/taiwanese-youth-los...
This is why Taiwanese maintain their green cards and/or US Citizenship. If things ever go south they'll quickly fly off to the perceived safety of the United States, there to badmouth America and Americans from their luxury homes in Newport Beach, CA.
Overwhelming military superiority on the PRC side. You'd bug out too if it came to that.
Worked with one Taiwanese dude. He has a Ph.D. He was fucking worthless and barely spoke English with a horribly thick Chinese accent. Literally worthless for the job we were doing. Not impressed. Always bragging about his son was rich and lived in Singapore.
Anecdotes are the stuff of life...lol.
when Chiang Kai-shek left china in in 1949 for formosa (taiwan)... he took with him all the gold and silver with him.
when in formosa, kia-shek established his tyrannical iron fist imposing 'marshall law'.
the ussa loved it. kai-shek paid the american's for protection with the gold and silver he stole from the mainland.
formosa like imperial japan were to become wards of the ussa. strategically the pacific/ indian ocean was/ were now america's 'soul?`sea lanes'... oh, and let us not forget the atlantic. (***?Alaska's? Artic?!?)
why is taiwan (ROC/ Rep. of China) such a sore-spot for china, and how does the korean war (forgotten war?) factor in...[?]
it all started started officially in 1937, but was long overdue from festering in the late 1920s-early 1930's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
some history on china's civil war regarding mao and kai-shek: {(note: chiang kai-shek had a ratio of 5/1 more harvard grads in his administration than FDR had in his cabinet/ adm.)(kai-shek was a nationalist and favored trade with the ussa [international zone proven to bring capitalist and westerners flooding into the mainland, as why kai-shek was backed to the hilt by fdr/ truman)[* truman's sino/marshall plan?]} Note2: Stalin had helped mao kidnap kai-shek during the civil war between the communist and the nationalist in order to fight the japanese together. mao wanted to kill kai-shek but stalin prevented it. stalins logic, {(**just as the afghanistans put aside their animousities during the Russo-Afgan war)} they both realized would put the civil war on hiatus until the japanese had been defeated. it worked , but some lines were crossed for a better footing once the civil war would resume.
http://www.history.com/topics/chiang-kai-shek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek
lastly, the Korean War and MacCarthur's insubordination crossing the 'yalu river-- manchuria'... is definitely worth exploring to tie the histories together in a 'gordian knot' that ryhmes with autarky...[?]
http://www.academia.edu/5281247/Truman-MacArthur_Controversy
The next "Official Secession Announcement" just might kick off a War over the Straits. Since CHN have the Spratleys (which will be used to fend off PHI based USA counterattacks), one can say that TWN is sectioned off.
So they have at least five different political parties on that tiny island. Not even one of the fifty states or one minor village in the US has more than two. What's wrong with that picture.
Funny how they associate the "nationalist" party with Communists