Behind the gloating, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) must be letting out a big sigh of relief. Its powerful party machine saved the day, but it took that much effort just to survive a challenge mounted by a humble group of active citizens, and in areas where the KMT is historically strong.
On the other hand, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must now realize how toxic a brand it has become to many voters. The campaigners’ amateurism is what made them feel valid and authentic, but when the DPP belatedly inserted itself into the campaign, it did more harm than good.
The KMT’s cozying up to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is alienating voters so deeply that they take to the streets and mount challenges that require your entire apparatus to fend off. If you are in the DPP, your anti-CCP stance is not enough to get you elected anymore, even when a grassroots movement rises up against your opponents.
This was a grassroots movement. Campaigners were vulnerable to threats and even internal disputes, the kind that do not happen in a well-oiled party machine. The difference was clear to anyone doing journalistic work on the ground — while the KMT flooded us with English-language press releases and news conferences, campaigners sent only a few statements in Chinese. The foreign-language media was never going to change the outcome, but the disparity in resources and methods says a lot.
Learning from how the KMT mobilized enough power to block them, many campaigners told me they already plan the next step — to rewire the way canvassing is done entirely — but they now face a dilemma: Do they want more DPP, or less?
Early on, many campaigners were proud to tell me they were doing it alone. Now some regret not receiving more help from the DPP, but even if they had wanted it, nothing guaranteed they would have received party support — or that they ever will. The DPP never believed the recall would succeed. It stayed away at first partly because it wanted to avoid the embarrassment of a potential failure. The DPP has been emphasizing this ever since.
What appears now is that the real divide in Taiwanese politics is not between blue and green voters, and certainly not between pro or anti-CCP views. It is between those who fear China as the most urgent threat, and those who believe that the cost of living and economic pressure are more dangerous in the short term. The latter do not like the CCP, but they are tired of the DPP sleepwalking through domestic issues while winning by default.
For the DPP, that means its tough stance on China would never again be enough to win over people who are struggling to pay the rent or hoping for a pay raise — in short, unless they are given a nation worth defending.
For the KMT, it means its closeness to the CCP now puts it at risk even in its safest seats, where a group of underfunded idealists (who can be better organized next time) could threaten its dominance.
This recall was not an isolated event. It was the first chapter in a deeper political realignment. This is going to be quite a fascinating story to write.
Julien Oeuillet is a journalist in Taiwan. He is the founding editor of Indo-Pacific Open News. He also writes and produces radio and television programs for several English-language publications globally.
Is a new foreign partner for Taiwan emerging in the Middle East? Last week, Taiwanese media reported that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) secretly visited Israel, a country with whom Taiwan has long shared unofficial relations but which has approached those relations cautiously. In the wake of China’s implicit but clear support for Hamas and Iran in the wake of the October 2023 assault on Israel, Jerusalem’s calculus may be changing. Both small countries facing literal existential threats, Israel and Taiwan have much to gain from closer ties. In his recent op-ed for the Washington Post, President William
Taiwan-India relations appear to have been put on the back burner this year, including on Taiwan’s side. Geopolitical pressures have compelled both countries to recalibrate their priorities, even as their core security challenges remain unchanged. However, what is striking is the visible decline in the attention India once received from Taiwan. The absence of the annual Diwali celebrations for the Indian community and the lack of a commemoration marking the 30-year anniversary of the representative offices, the India Taipei Association and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center, speak volumes and raise serious questions about whether Taiwan still has a coherent India
A stabbing attack inside and near two busy Taipei MRT stations on Friday evening shocked the nation and made headlines in many foreign and local news media, as such indiscriminate attacks are rare in Taiwan. Four people died, including the 27-year-old suspect, and 11 people sustained injuries. At Taipei Main Station, the suspect threw smoke grenades near two exits and fatally stabbed one person who tried to stop him. He later made his way to Eslite Spectrum Nanxi department store near Zhongshan MRT Station, where he threw more smoke grenades and fatally stabbed a person on a scooter by the roadside.
Recent media reports have again warned that traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies are disappearing and might vanish altogether within the next 15 years. Yet viewed through the broader lens of social and economic change, the rise and fall — or transformation — of industries is rarely the result of a single factor, nor is it inherently negative. Taiwan itself offers a clear parallel. Once renowned globally for manufacturing, it is now best known for its high-tech industries. Along the way, some businesses successfully transformed, while others disappeared. These shifts, painful as they might be for those directly affected, have not necessarily harmed society
RSS