The nation’s voters, angry at low salaries and unaffordable housing, are set to elect a new president, but the flagging fortunes and a slowdown in China mean the winner is to have a mountain to climb.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Eric Chu (朱立倫) is struggling to win public support as the KMT’s popularity has plummeted over its China-friendly policies and failure to deliver the prosperity promised by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). More than 20 deals with China have been signed since Ma took office in 2008 and Taiwan’s tourist industry has flourished under an eight-year rapprochement with Beijing as Chinese visitors flock to Taiwan.
However, many voters feel warmer ties have benefited big business over ordinary people.
“Most people around me are living harder lives,” said Kelly Chang, a 23-year-old former administrative assistant in Taipei, who lost her job three months ago at a land development company that went bankrupt.
“I think the new Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government can do better. I hope it can improve the economy and raise salaries. Cross-strait ties are important, but the benefits from better ties should be shared by all,” she added.
Student-led protesters occupied the Legislative Yuan’s main chamber during the Sunflower movement in 2014 to oppose the Ma administration’s handling of a China trade pact, forcing the government to shelve the deal.
However, it is not just the younger generation voicing frustration.
“Enough is enough,” said a 60-year-old mechanic at a car repair shop in Taipei, who declined to give his name. “Everyone who comes to our shop complains, saying they are suffering from the bad economy. Our business is falling too.”
Analysts say Ma was dealt a tough hand, with the 2008 financial crisis, European debt problems and a China slowdown — all of which have been bad news for Taiwan’s export-driven economy. Taiwan’s key technology sector has suffered from weak demand, particularly as China seeks to create its own homegrown tech industry.
There are rocketing housing prices, an aging population and low birth-rate to deal with.
However, the KMT’s approach has also drawn criticism.
“For the past four years, Taiwan’s GDP growth averaged about 2.3 percent annually, but people’s average income rose merely 1 percent,” said Gordon Sun (孫明德), head of the Macroeconomic Forecasting Center at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. “The fruits of economic growth were not shared by the general public.”
Taiwan has trimmed its growth forecast for this year to 2.32 percent, from an earlier 2.7 percent. One factor is a restrictive approach to outside investment, Sun said.
“[The government] should give top priority to the lifting of restrictions on investments by foreign and mainland companies,” he said.
DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has promised to diversify an economy that her party says is too dependent on China.
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