The News Lens
Date: 2019/12/11
By: Yu-hua Chen6

In January 2020, Taiwan will elect its president for the next four years. Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) warned in an interview that “China’s attempt to meddle in this upcoming presidential election…is very obvious. We can see the shadow of Chinese meddling in every important election of Taiwan.”

Although China denied the allegation, research and reports provided evidence of how Beijing sways Taiwan’s elections and political processes. Since Taiwan’s 2018 "nine-in-one" local elections, there has been much productive analysis of Chinese interference. One aspect, however, has not been thoroughly covered: how can Taiwan and the United States cooperate to safeguard the coming presidential election against China’s intervention?

Many Taiwanese have not fully recognized that this election is at the center of a clash between two forces – China vows to reset the existing liberal international order, while the U.S. endeavors to strengthen it.

China’s most visible and longest-held measure for influencing Taiwan’s elections is military intimidation. Since Tsai assumed office, China has ramped up military coercion considerably by conducting military exercises in Taiwan’s vicinity, and periodically dispatching its navy and air force to circumnavigate the island. These military maneuvers attempt to undermine faith in the Tsai government and sends an aggressive political message that the Taiwan Strait is China’s territorial water.    [FULL  STORY]