'You are stronger because of your free and open society': Former Vice President Joe Biden

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/12
By:  Central News Agency

Joe Biden, a former vice president of the United States and Democratic Party aspirant for the presidency in 2020, called for stronger ties with Taiwan in a tweet Saturday congratulating President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her election victory.

"Congratulations to President Tsai and the people of Taiwan for another successful election," wrote Biden, saying: "You are stronger because of your free and open society. The United States should continue strengthening our ties with Taiwan and other like-minded democracies," he tweeted.

Biden was elected the 47th U.S. vice president with President Barack Obama in 2008. He earned a second term as vice president when Obama was re-elected to the presidency in 2012.

In Taiwan's presidential election on Jan. 11, Tsai of the Democratic Progressive Party beat her two rivals, the Kuomintang's Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) and James Soong (宋楚瑜) of the People First Party (PFP), with a record 8.17 million votes, or 57.13 percent of the valid ballots cast.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/12/2020
By Elaine Hou, Matt Yu and William Yen\

Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) The relationship between Taiwan and the United States is expected to continue to strengthen after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was elected to a second four-year term Saturday, according to analysts.

Lai Yi-chung (賴怡忠), an executive committee member of the Taiwan Think Tank, described Tsai as a rational leader who upholds the status quo. Her leadership is in line with the expectations and interests of the U.S., he said.

Taiwan can be described as one of the U.S.'s best partners in Asia, Lai went on, adding that the Taiwan election on Jan. 11 was essential to defending freedom and democracy in the Indo-Pacific region.

He contended that the continuously improving relations between the two countries over the past four years is because the U.S. openly supports governments that support democracy and freedom, and not because of any favoritism.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: January 11, 2020
By: Chiang Yi-ching, CNA

TAIPEI (CNA) — Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the presidential candidate of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), called for unity and stressed the value of Taiwan’s democratic system after conceding defeat Saturday night.

Han, who was projected by polls to lose by a wide margin, garnered 5.52 million votes, or 38.61 percent of the total, far behind the 8.17 million votes (57.13 percent) cast for incumbent President Tsai-Ing wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The third candidate, James Soong (宋楚瑜) of the People First Party (PFP), garnered 608,590 votes, or 4.26 percent, according to the Central Election Commission.

Speaking at KMT headquarters in Kaohsiung after his defeat, Han emphasized the value of Taiwan’s democratic election system.    [FULL  STORY]

IT'S NOT WORKING

Quartz
Date: January 11, 2020
By Isabella Steger

Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen was re-elected today (Jan. 11), in a miraculous turnaround of fortunes thanks in no small part to China’s consistent threats.

Tsai won over 8 million votes, or 57% of the vote share, the biggest election victory since Taiwan held its first presidential election in 1996. Her main challenger, the Kuomintang party’s Han Kuo-yu, won 5.4 million votes. Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also retained its majority in the legislative election.

Though the polls showed Tsai was the favorite to win, her large margin of victory was unexpected. A result made more shocking following the drubbing her party received in local elections a little over a year ago. In November 2018, the independence-leaning DPP lost seven of the 13 cities and counties it had held to the China-friendly Kuomintang. The result was seen as a rebuke of Tsai’s economic and social policies.    [FULL  STORY]

Senator hopes to further strengthen ties and improve US-Taiwan cooperation

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/01/11
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – United States Senator Marco Rubio congratulated President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her landslide victory Saturday (Jan. 11).

The incumbent received 8.17 million votes, the highest amount since direct presidential elections began in 1996, or more than 57 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 01/11/2020
By: Stacy Hsu and Frances Huang

Washington, Jan. 10 (CNA) Several U.S. congressmen have urged the World Bank to explain its hiring policy, which has been described as unfair to Taiwanese employees, as it requires them to hold Chinese passports if they want to keep their jobs, although the requirement has never been adopted.

Republican Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez, along with House Representative Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Friday wrote a joint letter to World Bank Group (WBG) President David Malpass for an explanation on its policy regarding Taiwanese staff.

In December, U.S.-based news website Axios revealed that World Bank human resources staffers told Taiwanese nationals that they can only be hired by the institution if they hold identification documents issued by the People's Republic of China rather than the Republic of China (Taiwan).

While the World Bank revised its hiring policy regarding Taiwanese employees in the wake of the Axios report, the four U.S. congressmen still asked for answers from the bank on the matter.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jan 12, 2020
By: Lu Yi-hsuan and Dennis Xie  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

A US and a number of foreign missions in Taiwan last night extended congratulations to President Tsai

Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her re-election.

Tsai, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won a landslide victory over her Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), with People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) trailing far behind them both.

The US hailed Tsai’s victory as a demonstration of Taiwan’s “robust democratic system.”

The US Department of State, in a statement issued late last night, praised Tsai for developing a strong partnership with Washington and for her “commitment to maintaining cross-strait stability in the face of unrelenting pressure.”    FULL  STORY]

2020 Elections

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 10 January, 2020
By: Shirley Lin

The opposition KMT on is calling on its supporters to vote for the party’s candidate, Han Kuo-yu. Taiwan will be holding its presidential and legislative elections on Saturday.

The KMT’s vice chair, Tseng Yung-chuan, says that while People First Party chair James Soong is running as a third-party candidate, Saturday’s election will not truly be a three-way race.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan's 2020 Presidential Race2020/01/10 , Opinion

The News Lens
Date: 2020/01/10
By: Rath Wang

Rath Wang fiddles with numbers during the day but writes and advocates for Taiwan’s identity and other progressive causes in his free time. 

What you need to know

Taiwanese youth are mobilizing voluntarily to increase voter turnout in the 2020 elections.

Taiwanese voters will elect their next president on Saturday, along with legislators and political party votes, a deciding factor on the funding political parties receive and the allocation of party-list seats. 

A sense of despair echoing similar sentiments from the 2014 Sunflower Movement has permeated Taiwan’s younger population. Taiwanese youth are worried about their freedoms being stripped away by Beijing’s coercion, exacerbated by the months-long Hong Kong protests. 

In Taiwan, the generations born after 1980 are often referred to as “naturally independent” (天然獨). Many of them are supporters of incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen, who has been very vocal about defending Taiwan’s democracy and freedoms. On the other hand, they perceive the opposition candidate Han Kuo-yu as having the power and intention to “sell” Taiwan to China for short term business gains. 

In light of that sentiment, various youth groups across Taiwan have organized as savvy online fact-checkers and street canvassers, attempting to convince the elderly voters who support China-friendly Han to “wake up.” Youth volunteer groups have formed a social media alliance, from Facebook groups to LINE chatrooms, as well as official youth initiatives such as “Go Home to Vote” sanctioned by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.    [FULL  STORY\]