For young people, the China issue is not as important as for older voters. They want an improvement in their standard of living.
Taipei / New Taipei
In the morning Taiwan's defense minister announced again that he had spotted Chinese balloons crossing the Taiwan Strait. It is the expected election day.
Today, Saturday, the people of Taiwan cast their vote on the direction of the future. The election will elect a new president, vice president and representatives to the 113-seat parliament, or yuan. The ballot boxes closed at 16:00 local time, i.e. at 10:00 Finnish time.
Depending on the point of view, the elections have been grandly declared a choice between “war and peace” or “democracy and dictatorship”. The world is especially interested in how the election result will affect relations between China and Taiwan. China considers self-governing Taiwan part of it and has increased military exercises in the region in recent years.
However, especially for young voters in Taiwan, it's about the price of housing and living, as well as other everyday issues.
The most important thing is world peace. That is what the entrepreneur emphasizes Chuang Che-yu53, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate William Lain at the final campaign party on Friday night.
But the comment could have come from anyone's mouth on the streets of Taipei and New Taipei. It is clear that Taiwanese people want peace.
All the three presidential candidates assure themselves that they are men in place to avoid war and ensure stability.
Kuomintang (KMT) candidate, mayor of Taiwan's largest city, New Taipei Hou Yu-ih, warns that the DPP's William Lai line would drive Taiwan to war with China. Lai, on the other hand, accuses Hou of plans to annex Taiwan to China.
Both candidates deny the other party's accusations and the supporters of each candidate believe that it is their candidate who will deliver on his promises.
“If Hou Yu-ih wins the election, Taiwan's relationship with both China and the United States will be better than it is now,” say people at the KMT party. And the same phrase is repeated at other parties. Only the name of the candidate changes.
of Taiwan the election celebrations have a joyful atmosphere that combines elements of music festivals and events of charismatic religious leaders.
DPP's Lai and KMT's Hou perform in New Taipei at stadiums that are only twenty minutes' walk away. Traffic in the area has slowed down.
The election's kind of dark horse, the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) Ko Wen-jegot a space for its closing party that all parties always compete for: Ketagalan Boulevard.
A former doctor and mayor of Taipei, Ko is a charismatic leader whose style appeals especially to young people frustrated with the ruling parties. It is also clearly visible in the middle age of the supporters gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard.
Ko only founded the Taiwan People's Party in 2019 and aims to present himself as an alternative candidate above the traditional China issue.
“It doesn't matter if the trash is green or blue,” reads a Ko supporter's sign, referring to the fact that tr
aditional parties are both equally miserable.
In the evening Young people in favor of Kota celebrate cheerfully in the vicinity of Ketagalan Boulevard. The tables are dripping with beer and food. From time to time the entire restaurant crowd starts shouting Ko's name in unison.
Ko is perhaps the most charismatic of the candidates, although that is hardly enough to win. Instead, Ko's party can rise to a decisive position in the parliament, if neither DPP nor KMT wins a majority.
Although hundreds of thousands of supporters participated in Friday's election frenzy, the next president is not expected to win as heady as his predecessor. Tsai Ing-wen was elected four years ago for his second term with more than 57 percent of the vote.
In the elections colored by the events in Hong Kong, the president's mandate was strengthened by the fact that the democratic Progressive Party won a simple majority in the parliament.
Now the votes have spread to three candidates. There is no runoff in Taiwan, so it is likely that the winner will not receive half of the votes.
#Taiwan #important #peace #Taiwanese #voting #decisions