A range of opinion polls were published in the run-up to the second anniversary of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration. Despite differences in the actual numbers, when seen as a whole, the picture that emerges is one of a continued slide in the public’s satisfaction with Tsai’s performance, coupled with a gradual increase in her disapproval ratings.
There is considerable agreement among the polls that respondents with little confidence in her leadership outnumber those who have confidence in her. The trend suggests that Taiwan’s leaders are facing something of a crisis of confidence.
This is good for neither the nation nor Taiwanese, and cannot be fully explained by simply saying that the government, in pursuing a reform agenda, was always going to have to break a few eggs.
BRAVE AIMS
Over the past few years, Tsai has bravely attempted to address some of the nation’s ills, and aggressively pursued a reform agenda. This is laudable.
In general, her seeking to claim back illicitly acquired party assets and tackle workers’ rights, transitional justice and pension, judicial and financial reforms, as well as to deal with low salaries and the low birthrate, are all examples of her fulfilling campaign promises, and are well-intentioned policies that comply with fairness, justice and public opinion.
It is only natural for the policies to offend those with vested interests or the minority affected by the reforms, but they have at the same time been supported by the majority, who expect such reforms to be carried through.
That said, the continued slide in her approval ratings highlights that there is something that Tsai is not quite catching on to. This is either due to the reforms not having been adequately carried through or to Tsai appointing individuals who have prevaricated about pushing the reforms through — or both.
Consequently, Tsai’s administration has been overly cautious the minute the reforms have met any opposition or boycott, and failed to make them happen. At every step, it has found itself in a defensive posture.
A REAL MESS
Pension reform and workers’ rights legislation have led to social unrest. Thus far, judicial reform has been treading water. Frankly, the government has made a real mess of things — so the trends shown by the polling numbers come as little surprise. This has contributed to the crisis of confidence, and it is a shame.
There is no sense in quibbling or making comparisons with previous administrations. Tsai herself must not be overly happy with her mid-term grades. The hope is that she will get things back on track and make good use of the remaining two years of this term. She will need to demonstrate self-confidence and courage.
In terms of her governance, she must, once she has addressed the current predicament and identified the procedural failings that have led to it, establish policies that set her back on course.
In terms of her personnel picks, she must alter her overcautious mindset and appoint ministers up to the demands of the task at hand. If she does this, she will save herself from the burgeoning crisis of confidence in her administration, something no leader wants.
The public will respond to her if she takes the correct approach and appoints the right people. Sometimes being preoccupied with securing a second term is counterproductive.
Lau Yi-te is chairman of the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
Translated by Paul Cooper
Taiwan stands at the epicenter of a seismic shift that will determine the Indo-Pacific’s future security architecture. Whether deterrence prevails or collapses will reverberate far beyond the Taiwan Strait, fundamentally reshaping global power dynamics. The stakes could not be higher. Today, Taipei confronts an unprecedented convergence of threats from an increasingly muscular China that has intensified its multidimensional pressure campaign. Beijing’s strategy is comprehensive: military intimidation, diplomatic isolation, economic coercion, and sophisticated influence operations designed to fracture Taiwan’s democratic society from within. This challenge is magnified by Taiwan’s internal political divisions, which extend to fundamental questions about the island’s identity and future
The narrative surrounding Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attendance at last week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit — where he held hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin and chatted amiably with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — was widely framed as a signal of Modi distancing himself from the US and edging closer to regional autocrats. It was depicted as Modi reacting to the levying of high US tariffs, burying the hatchet over border disputes with China, and heralding less engagement with the Quadrilateral Security dialogue (Quad) composed of the US, India, Japan and Australia. With Modi in China for the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has postponed its chairperson candidate registration for two weeks, and so far, nine people have announced their intention to run for chairperson, the most on record, with more expected to announce their campaign in the final days. On the evening of Aug. 23, shortly after seven KMT lawmakers survived recall votes, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) announced he would step down and urged Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) to step in and lead the party back to power. Lu immediately ruled herself out the following day, leaving the subject in question. In the days that followed, several
The Jamestown Foundation last week published an article exposing Beijing’s oil rigs and other potential dual-use platforms in waters near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島). China’s activities there resembled what they did in the East China Sea, inside the exclusive economic zones of Japan and South Korea, as well as with other South China Sea claimants. However, the most surprising element of the report was that the authors’ government contacts and Jamestown’s own evinced little awareness of China’s activities. That Beijing’s testing of Taiwanese (and its allies) situational awareness seemingly went unnoticed strongly suggests the need for more intelligence. Taiwan’s naval
RSS