ITASA

Taiwan’s 2012 Presidential Election

Editor’s note: In 2008, US President Bush called Taiwan “a beacon of democracy to Asia and the world.” How many of you knew that Taiwan is one of the world’s true democracies? The system on the small island has every person’s vote count equally toward the election of a president. If you think about it, this isn’t even the case in the United States. With the electoral college system, millions of votes don’t really end up “counted” because in each state, it’s winner takes all. All voters aren’t equal. A person’s clout depends on the state they live in and the voting tendencies of that state. It’s no wonder that voter turnout has consistently been higher in Taiwan than in the United States. National Development Director Daniel Hung has put together a brief overview of the upcoming election in Taiwan. We’ve added a new comment box to our tumblr, so we’d love to hear your thoughts! [End Note]

On January 14^th, 2012, Taiwan will have its 5^th direct election for president. This of course, is very significant for many of us in ITASA, since most of us have relatives in Taiwan. I hope to lay out the background of this election as fair as I can, because ITASA does not officially support any candidate or party in any elections.

There will be three tickets for President/VP this time around and they are as follow:

Ma Ying-jeou (Incumbent) - Kuomintang Party (KMT). Running mate – Wu Den-yih

Tsai Ing-wen – Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Running mate – Su Jia-chyuan

Soong Chu-yu – People First Party (PFP). Running mate – Lin Ruey-shiung

Background:

After the KMT was defeated by the Communist Party in mainland China in 1949, the KMT retreated to Taiwan and held complete power until 1996, when they opened the presidential election to other parties.

1996 – Lee Teng-hui of the KMT party won against Peng Ming-min of the DPP party and two independent tickets. Result: Lee- 54%, Peng- 21.1%, Lin- 14.9%, Chen- 9.9%.

2000- Chen Sui-bian of the DPP party won after Soong Chu-yu (who was expelled from the KMT for running as an independent) and Lian Chan (KMT nominee) split the KMT vote.

Result: Chen-39.3%, Soong- 36.8%, Lien- 23.1%.

2004- Chen Sui-bian narrowly won against Lian Chan/Soong Chu-yu who teamed up to prevent a repeat of the 2000 election when they split the KMT (Pan Blue) votes.

Result: Chen- 50.11%, Lien- 49.89%.

2008- Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT party won a landslide victory over DPP nominee Hsieh Chang-ting after there were corruption accusations against President Chen Sui-bian.

Result: Ma- 58.45%, Hsieh- 41.55%.

2012 Presidential Election

I will not discuss polling data in this article, because I do not wish to influence you readers one way or the other on who is currently leading the race. Instead I will summarize the candidates’ positions on important issues.

Independence or Reunification

Soong wants reunification with China and is strongly against Taiwan Independence.

Tsai believes that Taiwan is already an independent nation and should not reunify with China.

Ma believes in the eventual reunification with China, but wants the Taiwanese people to decide.

Tsai and DPP’s platform

A legal and political order based on human rights and democracy; balanced economic and financial administration; fair and open social welfare; educational and cultural reform; independent defense and peaceful foreign policy.

Soong and PFP’s platform

PFP and KMT have very similar ideology since both are part of the pan-blue coalition. Their main goals include: participate in more international organizations, promote Chinese culture overseas and seek economic and cultural interaction between Taiwan and the mainland.

Ma and KMT’s platform

Ma supported closer ties with Mainland China and passed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) during his term. His main focus has been on economic growth and having a more peaceful relationship with China.

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I encourage everyone to read more about the upcoming Taiwan Presidential election. Just beware that many of Taiwan’s news source are heavily bias toward one way or the other.

Written by Daniel Hung - National Development Director (University of Texas - Austin)

Foreward by Eric Kao - National Public Relations Director (Washington University in St. Louis)