East Asia Forum
Date: 6 September 2018
By: Jean Yu-Chen Tseng, Fo-Guang University

It is obvious that the biggest challenge facing Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen after her first two years in office is the state of Taiwan’s economy. And the stakes are particularly high because Beijing is making the most of Taipei’s woes.

Soon after her inauguration, Tsai commenced a reform of the pension system to preserve the government’s fiscal health, with the new system coming into operation on 1 July 2018. The first wave of reforms concern the pensions of military personnel, civil servants and teachers. They are provoking considerable controversy and social upheaval. The next wave will involve Taiwan’s 10 million labourers.

Relations with China have fallen into disarray because of cross-Strait disputes over the 1992 Consensus. The drop in the number of tourists coming to Taiwan from China is having a direct impact on Taiwan’s tourism industry. There was a sudden rush of sales of hotels in southern Taiwan, and hospitality and tourism industry workers are losing what had looked like a stable source of income.    [FULL  STORY]