Magazine Taiwanese voters have made their choice. Now it’s up to President-elect Lai Ching-te – and the reactions from Washington and Beijing – to shape the future. Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, left, celebrates his victory with running mate Bi-khim Hsiao in Taipei, Taiwan, Jan. 13, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Louise … Read more
Taiwan held its much-anticipated elections on January 13. The DPP’s Lai Ching-te won the presidential race, with 40 percent of the vote. However, the DPP lost its legislative majority, presaging a tough road ahead for the future Lai administration. Meanwhile, the KMT also failed to win an outright majority in the legislative race, meaning a … Read more
The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Dr. Benjamin Tsai – senior associate at TD International (TDI) and former U.S. government intelligence officer on Northeast Asia and the Middle East – is the 397th … Read more
Current Vice President Lai Ching-te (also know as William Lai) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the Taiwanese presidential election on January 13. Lai won with 5,586,019 votes, while Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT) took 4,671,021 votes. Ko Wen-je, the candidate of the relatively new Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), had a strong performance … Read more
On January 13, Taiwan will hold presidential and legislative elections. Taiwan’s voters will cast one vote for president, one vote for a candidate running for the legislature in their home district, and one vote for their preferred party. The candidate with the most votes will win the presidency, even if they have a plurality rather … Read more
In the final days before voting on January 13, Taiwan’s major political parties are holding their last large-scale campaign rallies – and also increasingly leaning into partisan attacks on each other. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate William Lai has come under fire by the pan-Blue camp for what is framed as an illegal structure owned … Read more
Ko Wen-je , the former Taipei mayor currently running for president, has stolen the spotlight in Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election. Before this election cycle, only those who followed Taiwan’s domestic politics likely knew who he was, where he came from, and what makes his quirky brand of populism so appealing to some Taiwanese voters. In … Read more
The pan-Blue camp’s efforts at establishing an alliance between the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and Kuomintang (KMT) came crashing down in flames on Thursday with a bizarre televised spat between the three major opposition candidates: Hou Yu-ih of the KMT, Ko Wen-je of the TPP, and Foxconn founder Terry Gou, who is running as an … Read more
Taiwan’s presidential elections took an unexpected turn in the last month, with what was widely viewed as a not very competitive race suddenly looking as though it might become, in fact, a highly competitive one. In particular, William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been seen as the most likely victor for months, … Read more
Taiwan will take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco this week, a rare opportunity for the self-governing island democracy of 23 million people and its high-tech economy to break the diplomatic embargo on it imposed by authoritarian China. Taiwan’s chief delegate will be a civilian rather than a government figure … Read more