Battle for hearts and minds of young voters may prove crucial in Taiwan election

The race for Taiwan’s presidency has entered the final straight and the outcome will affect not only relations between Taipei and Beijing but also between China and the United States

In the first of a series on the key issues and candidates, Lawrence Chung looks at the crucial role young and first-time voters are expected to play

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In the first of a series on the key issues and candidates, Lawrence Chung looks at the crucial role young and first-time voters are expected to play. Illustration: Henry Wong

Published: 6:00am, 30 Dec 2019Updated: 12:54pm, 10 Jan 2020

Chemistry student Chen Pin-yu will be voting for the first time when Taiwan heads to the polls next month, and she has already made her choice.

“I’ll be giving my vote to Tsai Ing-wen because she is more capable of defending Taiwan than Han Kuo-yu or James Soong [Chu-yu],” the 21-year-old who studies at Tamkang University in Taipei said.

Chen was concerned about the self-ruled island’s fate if President Tsai was not re-elected.

“Given their pro-China stand, I believe Han and Soong would turn a blind eye to Beijing eroding our sovereignty if either of them were elected president,” she said.

Young voters like Chen will be crucial for the three presidential candidates on January 11, analysts say, in an election seen as a choice between protecting the island’s sovereignty and keeping cross-strait relations stable. They say that with 1.2 million people eligible to vote for the first time, winning the hearts and minds of those aged between 20 and 23 will be key in a race that is being closely watched by both Beijing and Washington.

The opinion polls have put incumbent Tsai way ahead of her rivals – populist Kaohsiung mayor Han and former premier Soong.

Tsai has played up a “sense of crisis” that the democratic island of 23 million people risks being swallowed up by mainland China if she is not returned for a second term. But she has also sought to position herself as an open-minded leader on issues such as LGBT rights – Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage earlier this year – and analysts say that has won her support among first-time voters.