Tomorrow's elections, Saturday 13 January, in Taiwan, where a small democracy votes in the shadow of the threat from China, a large authoritarian neighbor which places reunification among its declared objectives, could change the balance of the world. “How China responds to the choices made by Taiwanese voters will be a test of whether it can manage tensions between Washington and Beijing or proceed towards further confrontation, or even conflict,” CNN notes.
19.3 million voters are called to vote for the election of the new president and the renewal of the single-chamber parliament, the Legislative Yuan. Beijing intervened heavily, with threats, military exercises, disinformation campaigns and economic coercion, to direct the vote towards Hou Yu-Ih, candidate of the opposition nationalist Kuomitang (KMT) party. The objective is to prevent the victory of William Lai, candidate of outgoing President Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The third is Ko Wen-je, charismatic former mayor of Taipei, who in 2019 founded the Taiwan People's Party, focusing above all on the issues of high prices and proposing a third way in relations with Beijing, which in his opinion is neither too hostile nor too deferential.
Beijing considers Taiwan, a de facto independent island with 23 million inhabitants and a handful of allies in the world, a “rebel province” to be “reunified”. “Reunification” is “inevitable”, remarked in his last public speech the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, since 2012 general secretary of the Communist Party, a party-state with more than 98 million members, at the top of the Central Military Commission and president of China since 2013, who concentrates on his person as many powers as any leader before him had ever had in the People's Republic.
The Taiwan issue is a crucial point in the difficult relations between Beijing and Washington. The United States formally broke with Taiwan when it recognized China in 1979, but maintained unofficial relations with Taipei and a commitment to providing for its defense. Already under President Donald Trump, Washington has strengthened its support for Taiwan. Biden is no exception and has already made it known that he wants to send an unofficial delegation to the island after the elections, provoking an immediate Chinese protest.
#Taiwan #tomorrow39s #vote #puts #balance #China #USA #risk
