Taiwan Election May Open Window for Better China Ties

Picture: Annabelle Chih/Reuters

In an article by The Guardian, Helen Davidson highlights the possibility of renewed ties between Taipei and Beijing in view of Taiwan’s presidential election in January 2024.

The government of China, led by Xi Jinping, considers Taiwan to be a Chinese province and has insisted it will be “reunified”. It seeks to achieve this by peaceful means but has not ruled out using force.

Taiwan’s government, led by the Democratic Progress party’s Tsai Ing-wen, says Taiwan is already a sovereign nation, and its people overwhelmingly reject the prospect of Chinese rule in favor of the complicated but peaceful status quo. Recent polling by Taiwan’s mainland affairs council found 85.3% of the public were opposed to Beijing’s proposal of “one country, two systems”.

Beijing cut off all dialogue with Taipei after Tsai’s election in 2016 in response to the DPP’s position. It has spent years actively deepening Taiwan’s international isolation and punishing it economically, which has only strengthened Taiwanese opposition to unification, leaving the two sides at a dangerous impasse.

Tsai will step down early next year at the end of her second and final term, and the report says the handover could present “a window of opportunity to resume cross-strait dialogue.”