Taiwan’s leader is asking for more misery at the polls if she plays the ‘America card’, analysts warn
- DPP’s crushing election defeat showed voters want a good economy and an improved standard of living, analysts say
- Ill-advised for Tsai Ing-wen to try to build her 2020 presidential campaign on sketchy promise of economic incentives from Trump administration
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen – stung by her party’s crushing defeat in last month’s local elections – could be in for another disappointment at the polls in 2020 if she tries to win a second term as the self-ruled island’s president by playing the “America card”, analysts have warned.
Given that voters in the island’s local elections expressed their deep dissatisfaction with Tsai’s record on local issues ranging from pension plans to labour laws, it would be Ill-advised for her to try to build her 2020 campaign on the promise of receiving economic incentives from US President Donald Trump’s Taiwan-friendly administration, the analysts said.
But despite calls from within the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party for the president to drop out of the 2020 presidential race, Tsai could feel empowered to ignore the warnings because she remains the DPP’s most powerful figure – and has no rival strong enough to challenge her, the analysts said.
“Tsai is tipped to be the DPP’s candidate in the 2020 polls and of all DPP bigwigs, she is the one – not [Premier] William Lai or [secretary general to the president] Chen Chu – who can best work with the United States, which also sees her as the best choice for cooperation,” said Su Chi, head of the Taipei Forum and a former secretary general of the island’s National Security Council.
Tsai – who stepped down as party chair in the wake of the overwhelming defeat – dismissed reports that party officials have forced her to drop out of the 2020 campaign.