Taiwan: why US pork and a nuclear plant are tests of confidence in Tsai Ing-wen

Voters on the island will go to the polls next month to have their say on four community proposals

The opposition is backing a yes vote as an expression of dissatisfaction with the DPP’s policies

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Next month’s referendums are being seen as a barometer of public confidence in the government. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 5:00pm, 7 Nov 2021Updated: 10:41pm, 7 Nov 2021

Next month’s referendums in Taiwan are rapidly turning into a test of public confidence in the government of President Tsai Ing-wen, with the results expected to spill over into next year’s local government elections, observers said.

Taiwan’s electorate will vote on four community issues on December 18 but the debates have become a political battle between Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government and the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party.

The KMT has said the referendums will be a vote of the DPP government’s policies, while the independence-leaning DPP has framed the issues as a matter of survival for the island.

Two of the questions going to a vote were proposed by civic groups and the other two were put forward by the KMT.

The electorate will decide whether Taiwan should restart a long-mothballed fourth nuclear power plant to overcome electricity shortages that have resulted in periodic blackouts.

Voters will also be asked whether to reinstate a ban on imports of US pork treated with the additive ractopamine. Tsai lifted the ban in January after persistent US requests.