Analysis Taiwan’s president-elect Tsai Ing-wen faces anti-Beijing challenge from radical party
Taiwan’s incoming Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government is facing an increasing challenge from a radical pro-independence party that is ready to take over the DPP’s anti-Beijing role in parliament.
Analysts said the DPP’s hopes of ensuring relations with mainland China continued to develop peacefully could be hampered by the New Power Party (NPP), which has questioned recent moves by president-elect Tsai Ing-wen to restrain her party’s legislators from introducing proposals that would provoke Beijing.
Taiwan’s first female president Tsai Ing-wen warns China after landslide victory
Tsai and the DPP swept aside the challenge of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) to secure landslide victories in January’s presidential and parliamentary elections, which allowed the party to secure absolute power in both the government and parliament following the third transfer of power in democratic Taiwan.
With tacit support of the DPP, the NPP – formed in early 2015 by key members of the “sunflower student movement” – captured five seats to become the “third force” in parliament after the DPP and the KMT.
These people are young and they support instant independence of Taiwan, making it difficult for them to accept proposals by Tsai to maintain the cross-strait status quo
The sunflower movement, formed by students and some civic groups, came to prominence in 2014 after occupying Taiwan’s parliament to protest at what they regarded as the ruling KMT’s unfair trade links with Beijing, which they said favoured mainland China and damaged Taiwan’s interests.