Opinion | Hong Kong protests, Taiwan problem, Wuhan virus: Xi Jinping’s woes just keep mounting

After six months of protests in Hong Kong, the new year has brought more chaos, with Tsai Ing-wen winning an election in Taiwan and disease spreading in Wuhan. Perhaps President Xi Jinping should recognise that China needs new leadership

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President Xi Jinping visits the Kunming International Convention and Exhibition Centre on January 20, ahead of the Lunar New Year. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 3:00am, 22 Jan 2020Updated: 4:49pm, 22 Jan 2020

Tsai Ing-wen’s historic, landslide victory in Taiwan’s presidential election is seen by many as a clear indication that Beijing’s current strategy towards the self-ruled island is fatally flawed.

Chinese policies, which include poaching Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, curtailing its business and tourism, and spreading misinformation ahead of its election, have driven a deeper wedge between the Taiwanese public and the mainland.

More damaging, however, has been Beijing’s disastrous response to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. Tsai acknowledged as much herself, telling the BBC that Taiwan’s voters were watching as the much-heralded “one country, two systems” framework collapsed in Hong Kong, and voted with this in mind.

Even more remarkably, she argued that the island did not need to declare independence because it was already essentially independent.

Tsai’s victory, just months after pro-democracy candidates’ overwhelming victory in Hong Kong’s district council elections, is a stark sign of how Beijing’s – and President Xi Jinping’s – policies have failed.

Tsai said that Beijing’s policies of the past few years had changed the nature of the relationship between the island and the mainland, and nullified the ambiguity between them.

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