A series of high-profile incidents and scandals, plus heightened cross-strait tensions, have piled the pressure on president-elect William Lai and his team before they even take office.

Since Tsai Ing-wen came to power, Taiwan has attracted more Western political attention but the government has faltered in many domestic policy areas. Younger voters are deserting the ruling DPP, and the party’s presidential candidate faces widespread discontent.

While Taiwan is held up as a regional beacon of human rights, a wave of #MeToo allegations might be a truer reflection of problems on the ground. Besides women, migrant workers and foreign students in Taiwan have also suffered discriminatory treatment.

Taiwan’s favourable image in the West masks serious governance, societal and economic problems, which have led to the deteriorating crime situation. Growth has started to slow as exports fall, which suggests poverty and inequality could worsen, and crimes such as extortion kidnappings could increase.

Yoojin Grace Wuertz’s debut novel follows the lives of a group of Seoul National University students in the late 1970s, when South Korea had forsaken personal liberties for economic growth