DPP legislators have prioritized a flurry of new measures aimed to clamp down on cross-strait engagement between Taiwan and China.
The Diplomat
Date: May 20, 2019
By: Nick Aspinwall
Taiwan’s looming 2020 presidential election looks set to hinge on the country’s eternal
Image Credit: Presidential Office, Republic of China (Taiwan)
“China question” as its ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) continues to move forward with new measures aimed to regulate cross-strait affairs and combat what it calls a campaign of Chinese influence.
Last week, Taiwan’s legislature passed amendments extending the period during which former officials with access to state secrets are banned from traveling to China. On Friday, the presidential office formally notifiedMa Ying-jeou and Wu Den-yih, formerly Taiwan’s president and vice president, and members of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), of the revised travel restrictions.
This is one of many laws prioritized by the legislature’s DPP majority as it seeks to fend off a 2020 electoral challenge from the Kuomingtang, or KMT. While currently in opposition, the KMT won several key local races in November 2018 and its potential presidential nominees continue to outpace incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen in public opinion polls. The KMT favors friendlier ties with Beijing, which severed talks with Taiwanese officials after the DPP won the presidency in 2016. [FULL STORY]
