Taiwan elections 2020

The defeated candidate in this year’s Taiwanese presidential election has suffered another electoral rebuff after an unprecedented recall election. Han Kuo-yu was removed as mayor of the city of Kaohsiung on Saturday after more than 900,000 eligible voters backed his removal. Han was reported to have been Beijing’s favored candidate during the presidential campaign. Some analysts said his ouster was a reflection of the growing resentment on the self-ruled island toward Beijing. Han was the first Taiwanese official ever to be removed in this way. It marked a stunning reversal from his landslide election victory in Kaohsiung 18 months ago, as he rode a wave of popularity that took him to the

Taiwan may face retaliation and increased pressure from Beijing after President Tsai Ing-wen’s landslide re-election victory, analysts said, adding uncertainty to the already tense relationship between China and the US. Tsai, from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won a record-breaking 8.2 million votes, or 57% of the total, in Taiwan’s election on Saturday against 5.5 million votes for her main opponent, Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu, in what was widely seen as an endorsement of the Tsai administration’s tough stance against Beijing. Observers said Beijing was likely to further squeeze Taiwan – a self-ruled island that Beijing claims as part of its territory – in the

In the days before Taiwan voters go to the polls on January 11, 2020, to select their next president, the South China Morning Post interviewed people on the self-ruled island to learn more about what they hope for and expect from their next political leaders.

Two Taiwanese artists, one painting with his fingers and the other creating Japanese manga-style portraits, took inspiration from the self-ruled island’s political scene ahead of its 2020 presidential election.

Chemistry student Chen Pin-yu will be voting for the first time when Taiwan heads to the polls in January, and she has already made her choice. “I’ll be giving my vote to Tsai Ing-wen because she is more capable of defending Taiwan than Han Kuo-yu or James Soong,” the 21-year-old, who studies at Tamkang University in Taipei, said. Chen was concerned about the self-ruled island’s fate if President Tsai lost to Han or Soong, whom the student said “would turn a blind eye to Beijing eroding our sovereignty.” Young voters like Chen will be crucial for the three presidential candidates on January 11, analysts say, in an election seen as a choice between protecting the island’s sovereignty and kee

University students fleeing campus turmoil in Hong Kong can attend lectures at colleges in Taiwan to continue their studies, the Taiwanese authorities said on Wednesday. Students would be allowed to sit in on courses without credits for the rest of the school term, which runs from early December until January 3. “Regardless of whether they are from Taiwan or not, university students in Hong Kong whose studies have been interrupted by the protests in Hong Kong are welcome to register with a number of our universities here if they want to continue their studies,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Education said. Students who want to qualify for a degree would have to apply through the ministry. The offer

Facebook said on Tuesday that it would step up efforts to counter disinformation and state-backed influence operations ahead of the Taiwanese presidential election in January. While it does not control the self-ruled island, Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has sought its return to the mainland fold.  Taiwan’s authorities have reported an average of 30 million cross-border cyberattacks each month this year, with a sizeable number from the Chinese mainland suspected of trying to affect the result of the upcoming election. Facebook said its 35,000 worldwide staff will step up their efforts to check content and beef up security starting in mid-November, when the island’s presi

A group of supporters of Taiwan independence is set to announce a new political party this weekend, in a move that could affect the incumbent president’s chances of being re-elected next year.  The party, to be named Formosa Alliance, would support outright independence for the self-ruled island.  Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and has threatened to take it by force if necessary. The Chinese Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, began ruling Taiwan in 1945 after the second world war and moved its government there in 1949 after it lost a civil war against the Communist Party.  Taiwan eventually democratized and held its first direct presidential election in 1996.  But Taiwan is not offic