In a new book by Dan Abrams, Man Down, the legal analyst from ABC TV reached “beyond a reasonable doubt” the conclusion that ”women are better cops, drivers, gamblers, spies, world leaders, beef tasters, hedge fund managers and just about everything else,” based on studies and research.
As political leaders, women are still greatly outnumbered by men, but they have been increasing in number in recent years. Best known among past and present female political leaders are former Israeli prime minister (1969-1974) Golda Meir, former British prime minister (1979-1990) Margaret Thatcher, former Indian prime minister (1966-1977, 1980-1984) Indira Gandhi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Today there are at least 17 countries with a female president or prime minister, including Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Liberia, Bangladesh, Ireland, Iceland, Costa Rica, Finland, Slovakia, Lithuania and Kyrgyzstan. Nearly every major region in the world has a country with a female leader, except East Asia.
This is particularly troubling when Southeast Asia has had two countries (the Philippines and Indonesia) with female leaders in the last three decades. Why not East Asian countries? Confucian patriarchal tradition is so deep-rooted in East Asia that even Japan, the most democratic in the region, has failed to produce a female leader.
True to its name, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) produced a female vice president. Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) is deservedly proud of her political achievements during her terms in office from 2000 to 2008.
Understandably, she would very much like to be the first female president of Taiwan and has recently made known her intention to run as a DPP candidate in next year’s presidential election. However, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) appears to have a much better chance than Lu of becoming not only the first female president in Taiwan, but in East Asia.
Tsai holds graduate degrees from universities in the UK and the US, she was a university professor and she held ranking government positions, including the equivalent of a deputy prime minister. As the behind-the-scenes architect of the “two country” theory, her views and ability to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty are beyond question. In addition, as the chairperson of the DPP since May 2008, she has helped lead the revival and resurgence of the party.
With her calm demeanor, rationality and integrity, Tsai is widely popular in Taiwan. It is fairly clear that she is not only the best qualified female presidential candidate, but simply the best presidential candidate for Taiwan.
It is indeed time for Taiwan’s national interest as well as history that Tsai is nominated by the DPP to be its presidential candidate and then elected directly by the people to become Taiwan’s first female president in March next year.
Chen Ching-chih is a professor emeritus of history at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Taiwan’s higher education system is facing an existential crisis. As the demographic drop-off continues to empty classrooms, universities across the island are locked in a desperate battle for survival, international student recruitment and crucial Ministry of Education funding. To win this battle, institutions have turned to what seems like an objective measure of quality: global university rankings. Unfortunately, this chase is a costly illusion, and taxpayers are footing the bill. In the past few years, the goalposts have shifted from pure research output to “sustainability” and “societal impact,” largely driven by commercial metrics such as the UK-based Times Higher Education (THE) Impact
History might remember 2026, not 2022, as the year artificial intelligence (AI) truly changed everything. ChatGPT’s launch was a product moment. What is happening now is an anthropological moment: AI is no longer merely answering questions. It is now taking initiative and learning from others to get things done, behaving less like software and more like a colleague. The economic consequence is the rise of the one-person company — a structure anticipated in the 2024 book The Choices Amid Great Changes, which I coauthored. The real target of AI is not labor. It is hierarchy. When AI sharply reduces the cost
The inter-Korean relationship, long defined by national division, offers the clearest mirror within East Asia for cross-strait relations. Yet even there, reunification language is breaking down. The South Korean government disclosed on Wednesday last week that North Korea’s constitutional revision in March had deleted references to reunification and added a territorial clause defining its border with South Korea. South Korea is also seriously debating whether national reunification with North Korea is still necessary. On April 27, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung marked the eighth anniversary of the Panmunjom Declaration, the 2018 inter-Korean agreement in which the two Koreas pledged to
I wrote this before US President Donald Trump embarked on his uneventful state visit to China on Thursday. So, I shall confine my observations to the joint US-Philippine military exercise of April 20 through May 8, known collectively as “Balikatan 2026.” This year’s Balikatan was notable for its “firsts.” First, it was conducted primarily with Taiwan in mind, not the Philippines or even the South China Sea. It also showed that in the Pacific, America’s alliance network is still robust. Allies are enthusiastic about America’s renewed leadership in the region. Nine decades ago, in 1936, America had neither military strength
RSS