Event
Roundtable on Taiwan Elections and Implications for Cross-Strait and U.S.-Taiwan Relations
Vincent Wang, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Political Science, Adelphi University; Margaret Lewis, Professor of Law, Seton Hall University; David Rank, Senior Fellow, Yale Jackson Institute of Global Affairs; Jacques deLisle, Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania.
On January 11, the incumbent Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidential election by a landslide, and the DPP retained its legislative majority. Tsai and the DPP won in a dramatic reversal of fortune following a drubbing in local elections in 2018, a strong reaction in Taiwan to the protests in Hong Kong and Beijing’s response to them in 2019, and amid concerns that Taiwan’s democracy had become dangerously vulnerable to surreptitious interference from the Mainland. With Tsai’s victory and reiteration of the cross-Strait policies of her first term and reaffirmation of the Taiwan’s sovereignty, will Beijing extend the tougher line it has taken toward Taiwan since Tsai came to power, squeezing Taiwan’s diplomatic ties and international participation and applying economic pressure? How much did Beijing’s policies toward Taiwan and actions toward Hong Kong benefit the DPP, with its traditionally less China-friendly positions? Will the recent trend of strengthening of U.S.-Taiwan ties continue beyond both countries’ 2020 elections?
Panelists:
Jacques deLisle, Director, FPRI Asia Program, and Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law, UPenn;
Margaret Lewis, Professor of Law, Seton Hall University;
David Rank, Senior Fellow, Yale Jackson Institute of Global Affairs;
Vincent Wang, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Adelphi University and Senior Fellow, FPRI