On 16 January 2016 Taiwan held both presidential and legislative elections. The pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) conquered a majority in the national assembly. DPP candidate opposition DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen defeated Kuomingtang candidate Eric Chu Li-Luan in a landslide victory.
Has the Sunflower Movement won? Will Taiwan push for formal independence from China? Keep the new administration maintain working economic relations as political ties go through a bumpy ride? How is Taiwanese society changing and which new social cleavages are emerging?
The contributors to this roundtable will briefly review the election results before discussing key salient issues in the campaign and the election itself, from shifting identities, growing generational divides and other other social cleavages. The speakers will then discuss the implications of the election for both Taiwan’s domestic politics and cross-strait relations.
Moderator:
Matteo Fumagalli (Dept of International Relations, CEU)