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In presidential elections, the relationship with China and the United States is usually a major concern. This is followed by housing justice (for high housing prices), fertility policy (for low birth rates), green energy development (for prevention of nuclear disasters, environmental sustainability, and stability of power supply), and gender equality (more support for women).
If we were to compare the differences between the three groups, we could probably talk about it for three days! Let’s take the most important relationship – the one between China and the US – as an example:
Lai Ching-Te and Hsiao Bi-khim of the DPP were mainly continuing President Tsai’s route. They are more distant from China and closer to the US. With the slogan of “democracy against authoritarianism”, they will try to win the support of all democratic countries in the world. Hsiao’s diplomatic background – she served as our representative in the United States – helped Lai a lot during the election.
The KMT has been pro-China for the past 20 years. They advocate exchanges, talks, and more trade with China. The main message of their election campaign was that “the DPP is choosing to fight with China”, claiming that voting for the KMT is the only choice that will not provoke China.
The new TPP, led by Ko Wen-je, fluctuated in their statements on China. The DPP helped Ko’s rise by pushing him to become a candidate when he was unaffiliated. However, Ko was then critical of the DPP, and during the election process, Ko discussed working with the KMT to put forward a combination of candidates, rather than running separately. This has confused many people: what exactly is Ko’s position? His answer is: “Let the people live a good life.” Very abstract. However, being an emerging political party, this kind of ambiguity in policy has attracted many young voters who are tired of blue and green, and that’s the main reason why they got 26% of the vote.
It is no surprise that Lai and Hsiao won the election because the KMT and TPP ran separately, which gave the DPP a better chance of winning. But the TPP does have potential. As an emerging party running for president for the first time, they took 26.46% of the vote. This left Lai and Hsiao with only 40.05%, the lowest in the last three presidential elections.
Let’s wait and see. The DPP will really tremble in these four years because they don’t have more than half the seats in congress. Whether it can handle its relationship with China well is the biggest test, and it also needs to appease the KMT voters who are particularly concerned about the economy and making money, and the TPP voters who are particularly concerned about rationality and efficiency.
This is the first time in history that the same political party has stayed in power for a third term. As a result, there will be no honeymoon period for Lai’s government. He will need to have great communication skills to try his best to avoid a deadlock in the congress.
The DPP’s long-standing support for culture and democracy is the best result for street papers as of now. The KMT is very conservative in the cultural industry. The TPP uses science, rationality and pragmatism as its slogans, and it has not even proposed any cultural policy.
We now have more than 70 salespersons, aged 64 on average, most of whom are middle-aged unemployed, physically or mentally challenged, or homeless. They are referred by social welfare organisations to us for selling magazines. They sell magazines in crowded places, such as school entrances, metro stations, store entrances and street corners. Taipei has the largest number of sellers. In other places we work with local social welfare organisations and bookstores to deposit magazines, so that the local vendors don’t have to come all the way to Taipei.
The Big Issue Taiwan has been around for 14 years, and we’ve definitely helped a lot of our vendors become self-sufficient and at least be able to rent an apartment without having to live on the streets or go hungry.
Welcome to Taiwan. You will enjoy the democracy and freedom, the warmth and hospitality of the people, the delicious and cheap night markets, and the large modern shopping centres like Taipei 101. If you hear the word “Taiwan”, we are a country with a completely different style of life than China. And certainly not part of China. If you agree with democracy, please make our voice heard. It sounds very patriotic, and I know that there is always room for improvement, but we are often so misunderstood, I want to say these things whenever I have the chance.
This article is taken from The Big Issue magazine, which exists to give homeless, long-term unemployed and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy!
If you cannot reach your local vendor, you can still click HERE to subscribe to The Big Issue or give a gift subscription. You can also purchase one-off issues from The Big Issue Shop or The Big Issue app, available now from the App Store or Google Play
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