IRiot with yellow braids, glitter, spandex and a giant yellow water lily, Taiwan’s newest global celebrity she danced with all her heart She is the small, soft-spoken president of the island, whose calm demeanor belies her extraordinary accomplishments.
Tsai Ing-wen, 67, resigned as Taiwan’s president on Monday. Before handing over her keys, on Wednesday she hosted Taiwan’s most famous drag queen, Nymphia Wind, for a live performance at the Presidential Building. Nymphia Wind, who recently won the 16th season of the US reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race, gave a passionate performance of Lady Gaga’s “Marry the Night,” and then said, “Over the years, I have admired Taiwan for many times.” He expressed his gratitude to Mr. Tsai.
Tsai became the first female president in 2016, and since then Taiwan has become the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Government statistics show that we are doing better than any other country in Asia on gender equality. Her first term included raising the minimum wage and increasing child care funding.
But Tsai’s greatest legacy may be that she has fostered closer ties with the United States and elevated Taiwan’s rise on the world stage, even as she lost formal diplomatic alliances and navigated difficult relations with China.
On Sunday evening, her last night as president, Tsai thanked the Taiwanese people for giving her an eight-year term in a social media post.
“I entered the Oval Office with a belief in reform,” she said.
“Although there have been many challenges and trials along the way, we have all witnessed Taiwan’s progress and change in the belief of making our country better. Thank you for creating the first place, for making freedom, democracy, fairness, justice, respect and tolerance take root in this land, for writing Taiwan’s history, and for promoting the development of Taiwan as a whole.
“I said that my term ends the next day. [20 May], but our country continues to move forward. If I were to leave a message to Taiwan, I would say that I hope Taiwan is a unified Taiwan. ”
In January, Tsai helped win an unprecedented third term for the Democratic Progressive Party, a political group loathed by Beijing that promotes a Taiwanese identity separate from China. The victory of Ms. Tsai’s deputy, Lai Chingde, who won 40% of the presidential vote, was seen as a sign of her popularity as well as Ms. Tsai’s.
Lai’s victory was “a vote of confidence in Tsai Ing-wen’s ability to maintain stability in cross-strait relations and maintain the status quo,” said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific program. think tank.
As president, Tsai has walked the delicate tightrope of trying to maintain stable relations with China while increasing support for the tiny island from Washington. During her tenure, Taiwan has been labeled by some analysts as “the most dangerous place on Earth.”
That’s because the Chinese Communist Party, which has never ruled Taiwan, claims it as part of its territory and has vowed to “reunify” it with China, even using force if necessary. (Many Taiwanese reject the term “reunification.”) “We will unify,” he said, pointing out that the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name) and the People’s Republic of China are not unified in the first place. The United States has provided defensive weapons to Taiwan, but has refused to confirm definitively whether Taiwan would launch a military defense in the event of a Chinese attack, a move known as “strategic ambiguity.” The policy is intentionally vague.
Concerns have grown in recent years that China will seek to annex Taiwan sooner or later, with some predictions pegging it within the next five years.
Under Tsai, Taiwan’s defense spending has increased by an average of nearly 5% a year, and the conscription period for men has been extended from four months to one year, but some experts say Taiwan is still inadequately prepared for an attack. thinking.
Tsai has sometimes been accused of provoking the Chinese government. Shortly after Tsai took office, he cut off diplomatic contacts with Taiwan, citing Tsai’s refusal to support the idea that Taiwan and China are part of one country.
In 2022, Tsai welcomed a visit from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which infuriated Beijing and triggered an unprecedented display of military force around Taiwan’s territorial waters and airspace.
Glaser said Taiwan “paid a very high price for that trip because the short-term warm feelings were followed by a very strong reaction from China that continues to this day.”
But Glazer said that overall, Tsai was “not provocative…” [she] She communicated very early on that she wanted to maintain stability. ”
Ms. Tsai’s defenders say she has shown steely resilience in the face of increasingly belligerent neighbors. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made it clear that he considers solving the “Taiwan problem” part of his legacy. President Yori’s mission is to prevent Xi Jinping’s desired outcome. Tsai may be remembered for laying the foundation that made this possible.
