ASIA / PACIFIC
August 3, 2015
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 3
Two women to vie in Taiwan presidential election for first time
By Ralph Jennings
The Associated Press
AIPEI,
Taiwan
—
Taiwan’s top two political
parties
have
each
nominated a woman for president
in 2016, a historic first signalling
acceptance of female leadership
and kicking off a campaign
highlighted so far by clashing
views on ties with rival China.
The ruling Nationalist Party
picked as its candidate Hung
Hsiu-chu, a former teacher and
the current deputy legislative
speaker. Hung, who supports
friendly relations with China,
will run against Tsai Ing-wen,
the
opposition
Democratic
Progressive Party chairwoman
and an advocate of more cautious
relations with Beijing. Tsai leads
in opinion polls ahead of
January’s election.
Ties with Beijing, long icy but
cordial since 2008, have shaped
up as an early campaign issue.
Voters in Taiwan, which has
been democratic since the late
1980s, have never elected a
woman as president nor had a
choice between two female
candidates backed by the major
parties.
Joanna Lei, chief executive
officer of the Chunghua 21st
Century Think Tank in Taiwan,
said that some younger women
struggle to advance in Taiwan.
However, she said society accepts
the leadership of women over age
50 because they historically ran
clans in China, where Taiwan’s
culture originates.
Women manage 10 govern-
ment departments and some of
Taiwan’s top companies. One-
third of Taiwanese legislators are
female, compared to 13 percent in
Japan and 16 percent in South
Korea, said Sean King, senior
vice
president
with
Park
Strategies, a New-York-based
consultancy firm.
Elsewhere in Asia, Park
Geun-hye took office two years
ago as South Korea’s first female
president, and Sheikh Hasina is
currently the prime minister of
Bangladesh. Women have also
been elected to the highest office
over the years in the Philippines,
Thailand, Indonesia, and India.
China claims sovereignty over
self-ruled Taiwan, where Chiang
Kai-shek’s Nationalists based
their government in the 1940s
after losing the Chinese civil war
to the communists. China insists
that the two sides should
eventually
reunite,
though
opinion polls on the island say
most Taiwanese prefer autono-
my.
Elected in 2008, President Ma
Ying-jeou set aside the political
dispute to start dialogue with
Beijing and sign economic
agreements. He agreed with
Beijing to negotiate on the basis
that both sides belong to one
China, though with different
interpretations.
Hung supports a similar
understanding with China, but
Tsai’s party rejects that basis for
talks as a slight to Taiwan’s
autonomy. Without a framework
for dialogue, tensions could rise
again, making new agreements
difficult.
(AP Photo/Wally Santana)
(AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
T
LADIES LEADING THE WAY. Backed by ruling Nationalist Party members,
Hung Hsiu-chu (left photo), a former teacher and current deputy legislative speaker,
waves a flag while being nominated as the party’s candidate in the January presidential
election, in Taipei, Taiwan. The top two political parties in Taiwan have each nominated
a woman for president in 2016, a historic first signalling acceptance of female leadership
and kicking off a campaign highlighted so far by clashing views on ties with political rival
China. Hung, who supports friendly relations with China, will run against Tsai Ing-wen
(right photo), the opposition Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman and an advocate
of more cautious relations with Beijing.
Hung’s Nationalists lost nine
mayoral and county magistrate
seats in November, with younger
voters accusing Ma’s government
of getting dangerously close to
China while ignoring a wealth
gap at home. Ma must step down
in May due to term limits.
Tsai, a 58-year-old lawyer by
training and once Taiwan’s top
policymaker on mainland China
affairs, lost the 2012 presidential
race to Ma by six percentage
points.
Hung, 67, has been dubbed a
“little chili pepper” for her biting,
humorous style of grilling
government officials in parlia-
ment.
“The usual way to win, of
course, is to try to capture the
pivotal political middle,” said
Denny Roy, senior fellow at the
East-West Center think tank in
Honolulu. “In this respect, Hung
is an unexpected, even odd,
choice for nominee. What seems
to be most clear is that Taiwan’s
voters are ready for a female
president.”
The Nationalist Party’s best-
known figures, including the
chairman, did not enter their
names as potential nominees.
Analysts say those would-be
candidates are waiting until the
2020 race, when they stand
better odds of winning.
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