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Lawrence Chung

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has marked her first year in office with a bright economic scorecard and impressive domestic achievements that greatly dwarf those of her predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou.
But the results of various opinion polls show that many people find her performance in the past year questionable - indicating that, however hard she has endeavoured, Tsai - like Ma, of the mainland-friendly Kuomintang - has failed to impress the majority of the public.
A look at the first year of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen
 ​
When Tsai, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, was elected as Taiwan’s first female president in January 2016, the island’s economy had suffered three straight quarters of contraction; the government’s economic barometer had signalled stagnation for 10 months.
After Tsai took office in May, she turned an economic decline of 0.63 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015, when Ma was still in power, into 2.88 per cent growth in the final three months of 2016, according to government statistics.

Exports in the first quarter of this year increased 15.1 per cent, compared with a decline of 12.1 per cent in the same period a year earlier, when Ma was still president. The unemployment rate dropped to 3.78 per cent in March, from 3.89 per cent in the year-ago month. The average monthly salary rose by 1.35 per cent to NT$39,238 last year, from NT$38,716 in 2015.
Rebounding global trade has also prompted the Tsai government to raise its growth forecast for this year to 1.92 per cent. The trade surge also helped the benchmark Taiex stock index climb to a 17-year high above 10,000 points last week, and played a role in making the Taiwan dollar the best-performing Asian currency over the past year, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen tells Pope she aspires to create ‘new era’ of peace with Beijing
More noteworthy was the increase in tourists from Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and other Southeast Asia nations in the past year. Tourist visits from that region grew despite a sharp drop in the number of mainland visitors in the wake of Beijing’s decision to suspend communication and exchanges with Taiwan to punish Tsai for refusing to follow Ma’s mainland engagement practice of acknowledging the “1992 consensus”.
Beijing, which considers Taiwan a mainland province subject to eventual reunification, if necessary, by force, has insisted the Tsai government accept the consensus, calling such consent a political requirement for the two sides to continue talks and exchanges. The consensus refers to a 1992 understanding reached in Hong Kong allowing each side to recognise there is only one China, but permitting each to have its own interpretation of what that China stands for.

Her shiny economic scorecard aside, on Friday, the eve of her first anniversary in office, Tsai also touted her achievements in various domestic reforms, including transforming Taiwan’s economic structure and improving the social security network, upholding social justice and fairness and promoting the island’s foreign relations.
In a conference with journalists from overseas-based Chinese-language media, Tsai said she has not only promoted so-called “five plus two” innovative industries and a NT$890 billion “forward-looking” infrastructure development plan, but also launched pension reform and long-term care for senior citizens, promoted transitional justice for indigenous people and pushed for judicial reform.
She stopped short of mentioning labour reform, a controversial topic which most opinion polls show is a major reason for Tsai’s approval ratings tumbling since she took office in May from a high of 56 per cent to a low of 18.4 per cent, notwithstanding the sharply improved economic figures, analysts said.
Recent surveys put her public approval ratings at between 28 per cent and 36 per cent. An online poll by the Taiwan Democracy Watch civic platform gave her an approval rating of only 18.4 per cent, versus 76.4 per cent disapproval.
Why is the popularity of Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen plummeting?
“Her five-day workweek or the so-called ‘one fixed day off and one flexible day off’ policy greatly disappoints workers who have to pay the price because of her wavering, after a backlash from management,” said Chien Hsi-kai, convener of the Anti-Poverty League.
As a result of the new rule, most employers who had to pay employees overtime now ask employees to take hourly compensation leave instead, thereby reducing opportunities for employees to earn extra income to cover already-low salaries – some still sitting at NT$22,000 a month, their wages unchanged for years.
“I used to get around NT$15,000 in addition to my original NT$32,000 a month because of the overtime pay, but because of the five-day work week measure, I am forced to take the weekend and Sunday off,” said Johnson Lee, a 30-year old hair stylist, who took part in a May 1 labour protest aimed at the Tsai government.

Analysts said Tsai’s pension reform has also upset most government employees, military people and teachers. In the past year, these groups have staged a series of protests against the reform and its potential to slash pensions by the time they retire.
Meanwhile, Tsai’s wavering on her promise to uphold gay marriage equality has not only disappointed gay rights activists, but displeased religious and civil groups opposed to gay marriage, analysts added.
“The Tsai administration has provoked conflicts across social boundaries, as it has obscured and, in some cases, flip-flopped on policy direction and execution,” said Shih Cheng-feng, professor of National Dong Hua University. The Tsai government has been inconsistent on its stance on same-sex marriage and been unable to simplify its labour policy and has also created conflict over pension reform, the professor said.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen says structural reforms will help fix island’s slowing economy
Most important, Tsai’s shiny report card - especially the GDP growth - does not connect with people’s dissatisfaction with their wages, analysts said.
“Those numbers, plus the labour reform, did not solve the problem of the low income,” said Chen Cheng-liang, associate professor of the Graduate Institute for Social Transformation Studies at Shih Hsin University.
According to various opinion polls, more than 80 per cent of the public was dissatisfied with the government’s performance in improving people’s livelihoods and up to 40 per cent of poll participants found they did not have adequate money at their disposal.
On Friday, Tsai said she was aware that her reforms would only draw dissatisfaction from the public. But because she was a responsible leader, she said, she promised to continue to solve problems - without taking into account her falling approval ratings.


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Taiwan

Looking back on a tumultuous first year for Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen at the Presidential Office in Taipei in April . Photo: Reuters

epa05973493 A handout photo made available by Taiwan's Presidential Office shows Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen delivering a speech while receiving an overseas Chinese-language media delegation in Taipei, Taiwan, 19 May 2017. Tsai said in her speech, made on the eve of her first year in office, that her promise to maintain the status quo in cross-Strait ties remains unchanged. EPA/TAIWAN PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Taiwanese workers throw bean curd to performers acting Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen and other officeholders during a Labor Day rally in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, May 1, 2017, as they demand better conditions for workers in Taiwan. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Taiwanese workers throw bean curd to performers acting Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen and other officeholders during a Labor Day rally in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, May 1, 2017. Slogans on posters say "Restrictions on setting up Labor Union" and ""Inadequate Basic Labor Laws". (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A shot at cross-strait diplomacy: Can Tsai Ing-wen turn the missile misfire crisis into an opportunity?

Zhou Bo says the misfired missile, while showing how precarious peace can be in the Taiwan Strait, offers a chance for the island’s new president to reach out to Beijing and rebuild trust

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, left, shake hands at the Shangri-la Hotel on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, in Singapore. The two leaders shook hands at the start of a historic meeting marking the first top level contact between the formerly bitter Cold War goes since they split amid civil war 66 years ago. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen waves to her supporters after her election victory at party headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan January 16, 2016. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

A member of the China Unification Promotion Party carries a Chinese national flag as he takes part in a rally calling for closer ties with China, 2 days before the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, in Taipei, Taiwan May 18, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Beijing ‘unshakeable’ on ‘one China’ principle as Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen refuses to bow to pressure

An Fengshan, spokesman for the mainland Taiwan Affairs Office, says Beijing remains steadfast on opposing any ‘Taiwan independence’. Photo: Xinhua

epa05570644 A handout picture made available on 05 October 2016 by Taiwan's Presidential Office shows President Tsai Ing-wen (R) being interviewed by Charles Hutzler (L), the Wall Street Journal's Beijing Bureau Chief, at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Taiwan, 04 October 2016. Tsai explained why Taiwan cannot accept Beijing's '1992 Consensus' or the 'One China Policy'. She said that Taiwan is a democratic society and the government cannot go against people's will. Tsai called on Beijing to hold talks with Taipei, to solve the problems the two sides face as China sees Taiwan as its breakaway province. EPA/TAIWAN PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Honeymoon’s over for Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen as policy fights slow reform

Things are looking down for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen with her popularity falling since she came to power six months ago. Photo: AFP

fading popularity of Tsai Ing-wen

FILE - In this file photo taken Friday, May 20, 2016, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen waves as she delivers an acceptance speech during her inauguration ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan. Tsai on Friday departed on her first overseas trip since taking office amid speculation over whether China will tighten its diplomatic stranglehold on the self-governing island it claims as its own territory. Tsai left on separate visits to allies Panama and Paraguay, stopping in Miami on the way and in Los Angeles on the way home. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)

Taiwan's President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, left, poses with incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou at the official guest house after a courtesy call in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, March 30, 2016. In opening remarks, incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou congratulated Tsai on her January election win as the island republic’s first female head of state and said Taiwan faced a range of challenges and both parties were responsible or ensuring the people’s welfare. (Sun Chung-ta, Pool Photo via AP)

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Plunging approval ratings overshadowed her economic and domestic achievements in her first year in office


Looking back on a tumultuous first year for Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Plunging approval ratings overshadowed her economic and domestic achievements in her first year in office

Plunging approval ratings overshadowed her economic and domestic achievements in her first year in office