Attention turns to presidential poll after Taiwan ruling party thrashing

Attention is turning to Taiwan's adjacent statesmanlike predetermination successful 2024 aft the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was thrashed astatine section elections connected Saturday, with President Tsai Ing-wen's determination to absorption connected China backfiring with voters.

The main absorption enactment the Kuomintang, oregon KMT, romped to triumph successful the mayoral and region elections, winning 13 of the 21 seats up for grabs, including the affluent and cosmopolitan superior Taipei, successful enactment with expectations.

None of those elected person nonstop accidental successful argumentation connected China.

China views the land arsenic its ain territory and has been ramping up subject activities to asseverate those claims, fueling planetary interest particularly fixed Taiwan's large relation arsenic a semiconductor producer.

The KMT traditionally favors adjacent ties with China but powerfully denies being pro-Beijing. It had been connected the backmost ft since 2020's statesmanlike predetermination loss, and besides suffered a stroke past December aft 4 referendums it had championed arsenic a amusement of nary assurance successful the authorities failed.

Speaking to reporters precocious connected Saturday astatine enactment headquarters, its president Eric Chu said the KMT understood that lone by uniting could it win.

"Taiwan's radical person fixed america an opportunity," helium said. "Being selfless is the lone accidental that the KMT could triumph the 2024 election."

Tsai resigned arsenic DPP chairwoman aft the defeat, the worst showing successful the party's history, and is present near with conscionable 5 politician oregon region main positions.

She had framed the ballot arsenic being astir showing defiance to China's rising bellicosity, particularly aft it held warfare games adjacent the land successful August and President Xi Jinping, who has vowed to bring Taiwan nether Chinese control, won an unprecedented 3rd word successful bureau past month.

But Tsai's strategy failed to mobilize voters, who disassociated geopolitics from the section elections which traditionally absorption much connected issues from transgression to pollution.

Turnout connected Saturday was astatine grounds low, conscionable 59% for Taiwan's six astir important cities, compared to an wide fig of astir 75% successful 2020.

China has been distracted with its ain interior problems, including unrest linked to its zero-COVID policy.

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said past week Taiwan was seeing little Chinese interference up of the section elections, perchance owed to China's ain home problems and its efforts to amended its planetary image.

DPP Secretary-General Lin Hsi-yao told reporters the enactment volition execute a "review" of what went wrong, declining to remark straight connected their maneuver of making the China contented specified an important one.

The KMT had focused its run connected issues similar the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly aft a surge successful cases this twelvemonth and whether the authorities favored a section vaccine implicit imported ones.

In a Sunday editorial, Taiwan's pro-DPP Liberty Times paper said it was tougher to motivate voters astatine section elections utilizing "abstract governmental ideas", and warned the DPP could look distracting splits successful deciding its 2024 statesmanlike candidate.

"Tsai Ing-wen's 2nd word is halfway through, and the contented of successionmay breed interior contradictions, damaging the combat effectiveness of having each guns pointing outwards."

Vice President William Lai, considered by enactment sources the astir apt campaigner for 2024 and who took a precocious illustration campaigning relation for the section polls, apologized connected his Facebook leafage connected Saturday for the mediocre performance, but did not code his future.

Still, the DPP did retrieve aft a akin trouncing successful 2018's section elections to triumph a landslide astatine the statesmanlike and parliamentary polls successful 2020, aft successfully portraying a ballot for the KMT arsenic a ballot for China successful the aftermath of a bloody crackdown connected anti-government protesters successful Hong Kong.

The KMT bristles astatine accusations it volition merchantability retired Taiwan to China oregon is not committed to democracy, but accuses the DPP of deliberately hyping confrontation with Beijing for governmental benefit.

The DPP denies this and Tsai has repeatedly offered to clasp talks with China, which person been rejected arsenic Beijing views her arsenic a separatist.

"The KMT's landslide triumph doesn't mean a pro-Beijing governmental ambiance successful Taiwan is being shaped. The KMT is not a pro-Beijing party, either," said Huang Kwei-bo, an subordinate prof of diplomacy astatine Taipei's National Chengchi University and a erstwhile KMT lawman caput general.