Can Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen win over the doubters in her own party?
- Island’s leader has faced a lack of confidence since the Democratic Progressive Party’s poor showing in last year’s local elections
- Winning a second term depends on her persuading voters and her party that she has learned from her mistakes
With nearly eight months to go until Taiwan’s next presidential election, many in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party have expressed doubts about endorsing President Tsai Ing-wen for re-election.
Reasons for the midterm rout are not hard to find. Most damaging was an ambitious domestic agenda for which Tsai was held doubly accountable as both president and party chair.
Meng Chih-cheng, a political-science professor at National Cheng Kung University, said that while shifts in political focus had led to a modest recovery, winning a second term would depend on Tsai persuading voters and her party that she had learned from her mistakes and that her achievements in office outweighed her failures.
In her inauguration speech delivered three years ago, she assured allies she would avoid provoking Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
After taking power, Tsai sought to play down the DPP’s traditional strength in advocating Taiwan sovereignty, even as Beijing brought intense pressure to bear on the island and its new government.