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J. Michael Cole
J. Michael Cole
J. Michael Cole is a Taipei-based senior fellow with the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington, DC, the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, Canada, and the Taiwan Studies Programme at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Beijing aims to discredit Tsai, erode Taiwan’s institutions and aggravate a polarised society with a view to aiding its local partners. Other attacks are being waged by local politicians who will use anything to hurt Tsai’s administration and lift their standing.

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One candidate promises money and better relations with China. Another leans on progressive values and diversification. Their clash is likely to be highly acrimonious, and may well change the direction of the island.

Beijing’s hopes for a gradual reunification of Taiwan with the mainland have been frustrated, not by Tsai Ing-wen and the DPP, but by Taiwanese society’s growing drift from mainland China. Unable to admit this, China has resorted to heavy-handed tactics that are pushing the Taiwanese further away.

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