Many young voters turned instead to the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), led by unsuccessful presidential candidate Ko Wen-je – whose own political career was aided by the movement. This was despite a shift in Ko’s political leanings, from the “pan-green” that denotes independence-leaning parties, towards the more Beijing-friendly stance of the “pan-blue” KMT by the … Read more
Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies director Ni Yongjie pointed out that 60 per cent of voters wanted to remove the DPP from power “and the future focus of Taiwan’s politics will be in the legislature after the DPP had suffered heavy losses there”. Taiwan election: Lai’s victory risks further tensions with Beijing “Lai only kept … Read more
Lai took an early lead when counting began at 4pm, eventually finishing with 40 per cent of the total votes cast, or just under 5.6 million. The election had a turnout of 71.9 per cent – about 14 million people – slightly lower than the 74.9 per cent recorded four years ago. The result means … Read more
When public polling stopped in early January, multiple pools reported Hou and his running mate Jaw Shaw-kong trailing Vice-President William Lai Ching-te of the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by one to five points, while Ko Wen-je, who heads the smaller Taiwan People’s Party was lagging behind both. The middle way Hou’s “middle way” vision … Read more
Taiwan’s people have been urged to “stand on the right side of history” by opposing independence in a new year’s message from the head of Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office delivered less than two weeks before its presidential election. Song Tao said Taiwanese people should get cross-strait relations back on the “correct path of peaceful development” … Read more
