Why you need to know: President Tsai has vowed to transform the way government operates by empowering young people and bringing new voices into her administration. For this to happen, the conservatives will have to be willing to bow out gracefully.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/06/07
By: J. Michael Cole

Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her Democratic Progressive Party ran a highly successful campaign

Photo Credit: AP/達志影像

leading into the January elections. Unlike their opponents from the Kuomintang (KMT), the DPP much better understood — and reflected in its rhetoric — the public mood that had developed in the wake of the transformative Sunflower Movement in 2014. With Tsai’s election, people expected change, and the incoming president herself promised she would transform the way things are done.
Then came her Cabinet appointments, which very quickly cast doubt on the likelihood that change was upon us. With an average age of 61, the ministerial lineup was technocratic, male dominated, and to be frank, it was oddly reminiscent of previous Cabinet compositions.
Facing a storm of criticism, the Tsai administration countered with the claim that it had a limited list of candidates to choose from, and added it was aiming for experience and continuity — two fine things, no doubt, but not exactly suggestive of a commitment to rejuvenation.     [FULL  STORY]