China Ties 'Not the Only Thing' in Taiwan’s Election: Analyst
Relations with Taiwan's neighbor, China, and its main security partner, the United States, are important for Taiwanese voters, but they won't be the only issues on voters' minds in January's presidential election, says Chong Ja Ian, a non-resident scholar at Carnegie China.
Transcript
00:00 In 2020, we had the Hong Kong protests.
00:05 It seemed to be that the issue of China and Hong Kong and Taiwan was driving people to
00:09 the ballot in that vote.
00:11 How much of an issue is China going to be in this time around?
00:15 Part of that is up to China, up to the PRC, depending on how they decide to put pressure
00:23 on Taiwan and on Taiwanese voters.
00:25 But I think many people, especially observers outside Taiwan, seem to think that everything
00:33 is driven by cross-strait issues.
00:36 Cross-strait issues are important, but it's not the only thing.
00:39 The economy, for younger people, income, housing, those things matter.
00:47 There's a whole bunch of issues that make Taiwanese voters really like voters anywhere
00:52 else.
00:53 You mentioned what China perhaps wants out of this election, but what does the US want
01:00 to see from this election?
01:02 For the United States, I think what they really want is continuity.
01:06 They want a government that is steady, that is stable, that pulls no surprises in any
01:13 direction, and is a reliable partner.
01:17 Of course, that raises the question of US domestic politics as well and how reliable
01:22 the United States is.
01:23 But at least in terms of dealing with Taiwan, consistency, predictability on the larger
01:29 direction would be important.
01:31 All of the major candidates have visited the US to show that they're committed to, at
01:37 least in some shape or form, maintaining that relationship.
01:40 The US has dealt with a DPP administration.
01:44 It's dealt with a KMT administration.
01:47 How do you think they feel about Koen Jee, a candidate from a new party that they haven't
01:51 really dealt with before?
01:53 So officially, I think the US won't have anything to say.
02:01 But I think dealing with Ko, whether you are a domestic voter or if you're a foreign observer,
02:07 the question of his own consistency is a bit of a question.
02:12 He has a tendency to say one thing at one moment and go to another.
02:16 Some people call it flexibility, but others may see that as lacking in commitment, lacking
02:24 in direction.
02:25 I mean, so it's up to Ko to make a pitch, a stronger and clearer pitch, that he has
02:31 some values that ground him, rather than just what some would say is political opportunism,
02:41 what others might claim is a willingness to experiment and depart from the blue and green
02:49 debate, which in itself, I guess that's a certain appeal to younger voters, but that's
02:55 just a slogan.
02:56 There has to be some sense of how that difference is going to be manifested.
02:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]