Democratic Progressive Party

Third and Final Presidential Policy Presentation Takes Place

The third and final televised presidential policy presentation took place yesterday, consisting of three rounds of exchanges between presidential candidates Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP, Han Kuo-yu of the KMT, and James Soong of the PFP. Overall, the last policy presentation was probably the least substantive, with only Tsai referring to concrete policy and Soong and Han focusing primarily on attacking Tsai...

Is Controversy Regarding the Anti-Infiltration Bill a Fake Political Issue?

Controversy regarding a new anti-infiltration bill that the Tsai administration intends to pass before the end of the year largely proves a false issue. Namely, while Tsai seems in a rush to pass the bill before the year’s end and the KMT claims that the DPP is infringing on political freedoms and shrugging off legal oversight measures to pass the bill so quickly, it is actually quite unlikely the bill will do much to stop Chinese efforts to influence Taiwanese elections...

The “Democracy Frontline” Reflects Shifts in Youth Participation in 2020 Electoral Politics

Though under-discussed in English-language writing on the 2020 presidential and legislative elections that are set to take place in January next year, the “Democracy Frontline” interparty alliance proves one of the more significant formations where youth participation in electoral politics is concerned. The Democracy Frontline consists of young independent, third party, or DPP candidates that have aligned to tacitly endorse Tsai Ing-wen’s reelection campaign...

Misogyny, Racism, and Homophobia Abound in 2020 Elections

In examining many of the prominent male politicians playing important roles in 2020 elections, a striking commonality is their frequent overt displays of misogyny, racism, and homophobia. This is true of individuals including but not limited to Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu, the KMT’s presidential candidate, his running mate Simon Chang, KMT chair Wu Den-yih, and Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je, who is not running but whose Taiwan People’s Party will be fielding a number of legislative candidates in 2020 elections...