A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***On Jan. 13, 2024, voters in Taiwan will head to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections amidst increasing pressure from China, which views the island nation as its own territory. The Chinese Communist Party has overseen a multi-pronged effort to discredit the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in favor of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which favors friendlier relations with Beijing. We asked three experts to tell us more about the elections and what their outcomes could mean for Taiwan, for China, and for U.S.-Chinese competition. Read more below. Yun Sun Director, China Program Stimson CenterFor the 2024 presidential election in Taiwan, the two primary candidates — Lai Ching-te from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party and Hou You-yi from the pro-unification Kuomintang — represent two rather different paths to the future of Taiwan. Both probably would agree that the status quo is the most likely scenario for Taiwan in the next five years, although they have vastly different definitions for what that status quo stands for. As the United States carefully manages the expectations and bottom lines, and as China tries to prioritize its domestic challenges next year, the cross-Strait situation could experience limited escalation after the election, especially around the inauguration speech by the new president on May 20. That makes open communications between Washington and Beijing more important than ever. Zack Cooper Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute Partner, Armitage International Co-Host, Net AssessmentThe presidential election in Taiwan looks like it will come down to the Democratic Progressive Party’s Lai Ching-te and the Kuomintang’s Hou You-yi (a third candidate, Ko Wen-je, has
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A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***On Jan. 13, 2024, voters in Taiwan will head to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections amidst increasing pressure from China, which views the island nation as its own territory. The Chinese Communist Party has overseen a multi-pronged effort to discredit the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in favor of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which favors friendlier relations with
