The Communist Party is baffled — and angered — by the new activism across the straits.
Foreign Policy
Date: December 15, 2017
By: Kevin Fan Hsu
As Chinese President Xi Jinping settles into a second term, he has received fawning
TOPSHOT – Same-sex activists hug outside the parliament in Taipei on May 24, 2017 as they celebrate the landmark decision paving the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to legalise gay marriage.
Crowds of pro-gay marriage supporters in Taiwan on May 24 cheered, hugged and wept as a top court ruled in favour of same-sex unions. / AFP PHOTO / SAM YEH (Photo credit should read SAM YEH/AFP/Getty Images)
accolades from leaders around the world. Yet as Xi’s power at home consolidates, the relationship between Beijing and Taiwan has degenerated sharply, thanks to the Chinese Communist Party’s blindness to generational shifts that have taken place on the island.
Over the past decade, the Chinese economy has continued to grow, consumer choices have expanded, and the CCP has tightened its vice-likegrip on power. But while China’s political horizons have narrowed, Taiwan’s democracy has bloomed — and that has made the island nation harder and harder for Beijing to understand.
When Taiwan was a single-party autocracy, China could glower across the strait at its Cold War adversary. Though the two sides were enemies, they were mutually comprehensible. When Taiwan became a democracy but was still dominated by the Kuomintang, a party the Communists had long dealt with, China could manage. However, today’s vibrant and participatorysociety in Taiwan confuses and dismays the CCP.
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