The 3.5 milion voters in their 20s are a critical constituency in Taiwan’s presidential elections in January, and they have a message for the candidates seeking their support: Give us more about jobs and wages and less about ties with Beijing.
Political debate in Taiwan has traditionally been dominated by the question of Taiwan’s identity and relations with China, but the younger generation is less interested in issues of identity than their parents, and become irritated when politicians focus on that instead of more immediate problems: low wages, a weak job market and expensive housing.
“I think national identity is important, but the economy is more important. The issue of national identity will be resolved over time. There are more pressing day-to-day problems,” said Chao Po-sun, 27, a life insurance salesman.
The power of Chao and others in Taiwan’s youngest voting bloc is significant. They make up a fifth of voters, according to the National Statistics Bureau. They also like to vote. Four out of five went to the polls in past elections.
So this poll may come down to a generation of voters who are disaffected, relatively well educated and worried about their futures and the economy. And unlike older voters, they are not as settled in their views.
With opinion polls showing close race between the two candidates, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) will need to court the youth vote.
“Other voting groups may have already formed their opinions, but young people are new voters who can be persuaded. So getting their support is, of course, very important,” said Sidney Lin, deputy director of the DPP’s Youth Group.
One DPP strategy, according to Lin, is to hit the streets, organizing youth-oriented events and spread the message. Both candidates have Facebook “fan pages” to attract youth online.
Like young voters in South Korea, who recently swung Seoul’s mayoral election by turning to an independent candidate en masse, Taiwan’s youth voters are wired and can communicate political views, and politicians’ gaffes, rapidly through the Internet.
“Taiwan and South Korea are two places where young people are dissatisfied. The current governments aren’t particularly paying attention to [them]. And they are similar in using social media,” said Bruce Jacobs, a professor Asian Studies at Monash University.
Chang Fan-lo, a 27-year-old accountant at chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, who supports neither party, illustrates the challenge for political leaders.
“I think the KMT and DPP are both a little self-absorbed,” Chang said. “Too many people are unemployed. You can’t make any money. Housing prices go up but wages don’t.”
At close to 7 percent, unemployment among 25 to 29 year olds is well ahead of the overall jobless rate of just over 4 percent in September.
And the average starting salary for college graduates is around NT$24,000 a month, only just above the legal minimum wage of NT$17,880. Average house prices, meanwhile, reached 11 times average income last year.
“For a long time, young people in Taiwan felt school was really hard, but there was a reward at the end of it. For today’s youth, it’s not clear that there’s anything waiting for them at the end,” said Shelly Rigger, professor of East Asian politics at Davidson College in the US.
Thus far, neither party has been particularly effective at courting the youth vote.
The DPP was able to seize the early imitative in campaigning by attacking Ma’s economic record and proposing policies that focused on job creation, building the domestic economy and a fair distribution of resources.
Ma, in response, pledged to put the economy first if reelected, promising higher incomes and measures to keep property prices affordable. He has sought out industry leaders for advice on economic policy during the current downturn.
A recent opinion poll by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) shows that 33.14 pct of voters age 20 to 29 support Tsai and 26.74 percent Ma.
That may be because the debate once again reverted to the old script, with China relations in the starring role.
“We still see the traditional two-camp campaigns. The focus has turned to cross-strait relations again,” said Eric Yu (俞振華), of the Election Study Center at National Chengchi University.
Last month Ma firmly put the cross-strait issue back in the frame when he said there could be a peace treaty with China in 10 years.
Even on their Facebook pages, Ma and Tsai largely address the issue of China. Recently, Ma wrote on Facebook that Taiwan’s most important role was as peacemaker, continuing to improve cross-strait relations.
To which one Facebook user commented: “First, think of the lives of ordinary people. Only after our lives are stable can we focus on other things.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by