The Hill
Date: 12/28/19
By: Zoe Leung

Taiwan is set to hold one of its most important elections in years on January 11. The risk of a

cross-strait crisis has grown in the last few years, impacted by evolving domestic politics in both China and Taiwan, as well as the U.S. policy toward Taiwan.

Recently, as social unrest has engulfed Hong Kong, there is a renewed alignment of Taiwanese and Hong Kong activism in defending democratic values, exemplified by the Taiwanese slogan “Today Hong Kong, tomorrow Taiwan.” The elections in Hong Kong and Taiwan, falling just a few months apart, has provided avenues for the public to respond to Beijing’s policies. To understand Taiwan’s upcoming presidential and legislative races it is essential to examine the triangular relationship between the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The Taiwanese public has been paying close attention to Hong Kong’s fight for universal suffrage and the unrelenting bankruptcy of the “one country two systems” formula since the protest movements took off. Protest politics dominated Hong Kong’s local elections this past November in outright defiance against the establishment and by extension, Beijing, and gave the pan-democratic camp the largest landslide wins in history.    [FULL  STORY]