Taiwan Leadership in Times of a Pandemic: President Tsai Ing-Wen

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On the night of January 11, 2020, Taiwanese people, regardless of each individual’s political leaning, huddled in front of TVs, phones, and out in the cold in wait for the presidential election results. After four years of leadership under President Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered a crippling defeat in regional elections two years prior, the next president was surely going to change the political direction of Taiwan. Taiwan as a nation, furthermore, was on the verge of a change with a record-breaking 67% of the population self-identifying as “Taiwanese” (Devlin and Huang, 2020). As votes were counted, the election results showed that the incumbent President Tsai successfully stayed on for another term, with a whopping 8,170,231 votes, or 57.13% of all votes — the highest majority in Taiwanese history (“Election Results”, N.A.). 

  The presidential election happened as China was strongly locking down on Hong Kong, which, no doubt, had a significant impact on the turnout and the result of this election. The charismatic Mr. Han was the presidential candidate of the Chinese-leaning opposition Kuomintang (KMT). While he wooed the Taiwanese elders with the promise of a free China, the younger generation did not want to see Taiwan falling under Chinese control, the saying “Hong-Kong today, Taiwan tomorrow” ringing true in our ears. Though after four years of President Tsai’s rule, Taiwan has suffered the loss of six diplomatic ties, our diplomatic relations now at a measly fifteen (“International Relations Statistics”, N.A.). It is hard to say whether we are any closer to the goal of breaking away from the ever-tightening hold that is China.

  Who is President Tsai Ing-wen? The youngest of 11 children, she has had a comfortable upbringing and considerable academic achievements. After teaching in various universities, she was a negotiation consultant when Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization in 2002. President Tsai first came to prominence in the political field after joining the DPP in 2004 and becoming the vice premier in 2006, leading the DPP after scandal rocked the party when former president Chen Shui-bian was accused and arrested of money laundering. After an astounding win in the presidential elections of 2016, she became the first female president in Taiwan and successfully initiated the third peaceful transition of power.

  President Tsai Ing-wen has initiated three prominent policies during her first term: pension distribution reforms, legalization of same-sex marriage, and the promise of Nuclear power phase-out by 2025. As a person of the new generation, I am wholly in favor of changing the pension fund distribution. Taiwan used to be a dictator state, where the military, teachers, and civil servants were treated with the highest regard. Thus, those who retired before 1995 got to enjoy an 18% interest rate in their retirement savings (“Changes in the pension”, 2020). This was met with national outrage, considering that the average annual income for 25-29 year-olds is near 20,000 USD (Yuan, 2019), whilst the average pensioner can get back up to 24,000 USD annually, which is even more than what the civil servants working now are getting paid (Yuan, 2017).

  With the aging society, and lowering birth rates, this high interest rate on retirement savings for civil servants was not sustainable. So, President Tsai took initiative by gradually lowering the interest rates by 1% annually and implementing an order to delay the time between one’s retirement and one’s access to the fund, in hopes of saving Taiwan from bankruptcy. This policy change was met with extreme backlash from current pensioners and people about to retire, and protests in front of the presidential building were a normal sight. Others were in favor of this policy. My civics teacher who still had twenty years to go before retirement, for example, stated that quite frankly that he, too, feared that when it’s time for them to retire, there will be nothing left, and was appreciative of the initiative in lowering the interest rates of retirement savings.

  One of the more controversial policies President Tsai has attempted and succeeded to push for is the legalization of same-sex marriage. Though Taiwan prides itself on being the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, there is still room for improvement. Originally, supporters wanted to change the Civil law directly, changing the definition of marriage to something more inclusive than “a union between a man and a woman.” Due to opposition from conservative groups and religious groups, however, changing the Civil law was impossible. Today, the justices who interpret the constitution use the new interpretation “J.Y. Interpretation 784” to give same-sex unions the same power as marriage in everything but name. While same-sex marriage is a progressive feat, adoptions are illegal for same-sex partners. Furthermore, foreigners from countries that have yet to legalize same-sex marriage cannot get married in Taiwan. I hope that someday soon, the civil law will change for same-sex couples to enjoy the same privileges as any other couple in love.

  Nuclear power phase-out by 2025, which sounds great, is, by all means, more of a dream than reality. As of 2021, Taiwan only has three working nuclear power plants, the oldest plant being nearly 45 years old. Furthermore, nuclear power plant 4, a construction plan spanning three decades, seems to be more of a political power play than a power plant, as it has yet to produce one kWh of electricity. After spending 10 billion dollars on the power plant, it was officially sealed up and set for dismantling in 2014. Taiwan is so small, that one nuclear power plant accident will raze us to the ground. Yet pollution and global warming have to be taken into account. Is it worth the risk to keep the nuclear power plants running? The government may need to consider raising electricity prices to encourage sustainable practices of energy if we are going to forfeit nuclear power. The electricity price for households during June 2020 was 0.099 [7] dollars per kWh, taking into account that we do not produce oil, natural gas, or coal. It is strange that we have one of the cheapest electricity prices in the world. With the growingly volatile weather and our continuing disregard for the climate, one can only wonder, if it will ever snow in Taipei?

  It is safe to say that everyone had big plans for President Tsai, whether it be that she will finally stand up to China or bring change to a growingly bipolar government. Yet for now, she has only been successful in amassing support for her opposition and disappointing her staunch believers. The pandemic though has worked in her favor, with her quick thinking and strong team at the Taiwanese CDC successfully preventing a nationwide lockdown and the spread of the virus. Her success in containing the virus unquestionably propelled Taiwan into the spotlight, putting Taiwan in the position to share resources and advice with the world.

The situation in Hong Kong and increasing anti-China sentiment in Taiwan bought her a second term, and her leadership under COVID-19 solidified it. What she plans to do in the next four years will change the trajectory of Taiwan. Hopefully, it is slowly in the right direction, presumably away from China. May she use our current momentum to continue pushing us through the murky waters and hopefully into a brighter future.

References

“Changes in the various pension funds” Taiwan pension Fund Committee, 2020, https://pension.president.gov.tw/Content_List.aspx?n=F33873F3FF13A38E.

Devlin, Kat, and Christine Huang. “How People in Taiwan View Mainland China and the U.S.” Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project, Pew Research Center, 10 Dec. 2020, www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/05/12/in-taiwan-views-of-mainland-china-mostly-negative/. 

“Electricity Prices.” Global Petrol Prices, 2020, https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Taiwan/electricity_prices/#hl151.

Executive Yuan. “Earnings Exploration & Information System.” 2019, https://earnings.dgbas.gov.tw/experience_sub_01.aspx.

Executive Yuan. “Meeting Recording of the Pension Fund Committee.” 2017, https://www.ey.gov.tw/Page/AF73D471993DF350/28e7363e-09c3-4bb0-b1c0-8b35b2771336.

International Relations Statistics. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of China (Taiwan), ws.mofa.gov.tw/Download.ashx?u=LzAwMS9VcGxvYWQvT2xkRmlsZS9SZWxGaWxlLzI1NDAvMTcxMDM4LzI4ZTYwNTk3LWQyMWYtNGZmYS1iMTg3LTVkMGI4MzYwM2RkMy5wZGY%3d&n=5ZyL6Zqb6Zec5L%2bC5qaC5rOB57Wx6KiILnBkZg%3d%3d.

“The Election Results for  the 15th Taiwanese Presidential Election.” 中央選舉委員會, Central Election Commission, www.cec.gov.tw/central/cms/109news/32486.