My Take | Do not equate William Lai and the DPP with Taiwan democracy
The island’s political system is doing fine, it’s the leader and government that are in trouble through mismanagement and ideological stubbornness.
Like most people everywhere, Taiwanese worry about jobs, their livelihoods and, if they run a business, the direction of the economy.
So Donald Trump’s universal tariff war may be of some concern or at least interest to most of them. That’s because it’s been clear for some time that the US president doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe when it comes to imposing duties on your exports to his country. In fact, if you are a traditional American ally or friend, he is likely to be even harsher because it makes you an easy mark for bullying.
The problem is that only now, at the last minute, Lai and his independence-seeking Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) make negotiating trade terms with Washington top of the island’s news agenda. Before, while every other major government around the world was prioritising trade negotiations to minimise the economic damage coming from Washington, Lai was busy touring the island to warn against mainland China’s existential threat.
Then came la piece de resistance: the mass recall vote against opposition lawmakers. Through a quirk of the electoral system, you could recall legislators and run by-elections to replace them if there are enough voters to support the effort.