2024 Taiwanese presidential election | 13 January

VorZakone

What would Kenny G do?
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May 9, 2013
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So this is the big day tomorrow (or today based on where you live). Polls open from 8:00AM (00:00 GMT) until 4:00PM (08:00 GMT) and about 19.5 million people are registered to vote.

Taiwan elections 2024 live (Al-Jazeera)

In the last few days, the main airport in Taipei has been buzzing with expats (who are legally registered to vote) flying back home just to cast their vote in the context that there is no way for Taiwanese expats to vote from abroad. Regardless, we can expect results in the evening, local time.
 
Good luck to all those voting, hopefully Taiwan chooses the best path to keep it safe and prosperous!
 
This is how you count votes from paper ballots in a quick, orderly and transparent fashion, with teams of 4-5 people per ballot. I also used to count votes for an election once too. It is a great workout, both physically and mentally.

 
We have a winner. Lai Ching-te has won the election and gives an third term for the Democratic Progressive Party.

 
Does any of them have a realistic solution to get China to recognize them as a country?

Rather than a renegade provence in an ongoing civil war.
 
Excellent news, anything that the CCP doesn't want is good news for the world.
 
Does any of them have a realistic solution to get China to recognize them as a country?

Rather than a renegade provence in an ongoing civil war.
No, conquering and annexing Taiwain is basically Emperor Xi's lifetime ambition.

Unless the CCP collapses, they'll never recognize Taiwan independence.
 
No, conquering and annexing Taiwain is basically Emperor Xi's lifetime ambition.

Unless the CCP collapses, they'll never recognize Taiwan independence.

I don't agree with that, I'm sure there are things that China wants and it probably doesn't want a war. One that would likely involve a lot more than just Taiwan given it's economic importance due to TSMC and others there.

So there will be a deal to be done to get them to finally end the civil war and recognise Taiwan.
 
I don't agree with that, I'm sure there are things that China wants and it probably doesn't want a war. One that would likely involve a lot more than just Taiwan given it's economic importance due to TSMC and others there.

So there will be a deal to be done to get them to finally end the civil war and recognise Taiwan.

CCP will never recognize Taiwan. And seeing how they treated hong kong, i doubt taiwan will ever accept being part of china.

I dont see any other outcome than armed conflict short/medium term
 
I don't agree with that, I'm sure there are things that China wants and it probably doesn't want a war. One that would likely involve a lot more than just Taiwan given it's economic importance due to TSMC and others there.

So there will be a deal to be done to get them to finally end the civil war and recognise Taiwan.

If the consequences aren't felt by the aggressor then any situation can escalate out of control.
 
I don't agree with that, I'm sure there are things that China wants and it probably doesn't want a war. One that would likely involve a lot more than just Taiwan given it's economic importance due to TSMC and others there.

So there will be a deal to be done to get them to finally end the civil war and recognise Taiwan.

The CCP can't and won't recognize Taiwan. It would undermine their legitimacy and the 70+ years of propaganda they've beaten into their citizens. Taiwan becoming independent would be a humiliation akin to the Century of Humiliation that is a core tenet of Chinese nationalism. If the CCP had spent the last several decades messaging differently, they may have been able to concede to Taiwanese independence, but there's been nothing but irredentism.

The only real long-term deterrent that might work is a nuclear program, but Taiwan gave theirs up in the 80s.
 
The CCP can't and won't recognize Taiwan. It would undermine their legitimacy and the 70+ years of propaganda they've beaten into their citizens. Taiwan becoming independent would be a humiliation akin to the Century of Humiliation that is a core tenet of Chinese nationalism. If the CCP had spent the last several decades messaging differently, they may have been able to concede to Taiwanese independence, but there's been nothing but irredentism.

The only real long-term deterrent that might work is a nuclear program, but Taiwan gave theirs up in the 80s.
It all depends on the US position, US recognition of Taiwan & the creation of a Pacific equivalent of NATO should be enough to hold China back.

But of course there's little incentive for the US to take this position.
 
CCP will never recognize Taiwan. And seeing how they treated hong kong, i doubt taiwan will ever accept being part of china.

I dont see any other outcome than armed conflict short/medium term
I saw an interesting thing on YouTube today, something about China A Paper Tiger, saying that the Chinese Rocket Division has had a load of corruption and they're unlikely to be able to attack anytime soon
 
I saw an interesting thing on YouTube today, something about China A Paper Tiger, saying that the Chinese Rocket Division has had a load of corruption and they're unlikely to be able to attack anytime soon

Wouldn't bank on it. The Russian military sucks compared to what it should be but the Ukrainians are still suffering. Numbers and resources always count to some degree.
 
I saw an interesting thing on YouTube today, something about China A Paper Tiger, saying that the Chinese Rocket Division has had a load of corruption and they're unlikely to be able to attack anytime soon

Well, i dont know china's military capabilities and i doubt that a YT video knows them either, but of course, china would only attack taiwan if they feel they can win. But is a plsn that they had been cooking for a long time and they are not in a rush, theyll bid their time
 
Well, i dont know china's military capabilities and i doubt that a YT video knows them either, but of course, china would only attack taiwan if they feel they can win. But is a plsn that they had been cooking for a long time and they are not in a rush, theyll bid their time
It's focused on a Bloomberg report, including stuff from a defected general I think.
 
It's focused on a Bloomberg report, including stuff from a defected general I think.
CCP has shit loads of people/soilders. In a way, they probably won't need any advanced weapons but some ships if the whole country gets behind them for that.
 
Well, i dont know china's military capabilities and i doubt that a YT video knows them either, but of course, china would only attack taiwan if they feel they can win. But is a plsn that they had been cooking for a long time and they are not in a rush, theyll bid their time
I have a very different view on this, see what you guys think.

They are in a rush, or at least emperor Xi is, they are in the midst of a economic meltdown and Taiwanese people are becoming less and less Chinese everyday with the older generation dying off.

They are not about to catch up with the US militarily in the foreeseable future.

Their biggest chance is to have KMT win an election so they can attack and have the Taiwanese president surrender before the US can help.

DPP getting elected is the best thing for peace across the strait as it maintains the status quo for now.
 
I have a very different view on this, see what you guys think.

They are in a rush, or at least emperor Xi is, they are in the midst of a economic meltdown and Taiwanese people are becoming less and less Chinese everyday with the older generation dying off.

They are not about to catch up with the US militarily in the foreeseable future.

Their biggest chance is to have KMT win an election so they can attack and have the Taiwanese president surrender before the US can help.

DPP getting elected is the best thing for peace across the strait as it maintains the status quo for now.
China still has growth rates the west can only dream of. It has huge issues around its residential property market that will be a drag on growth for some time, but it also has pockets of growth in a lot of fast-growing industries that it is a world leader in.
A bit of policy stimulus and you might start seeing investors taking another look at China because it's been so out of favour for ages now.
 
China still has growth rates the west can only dream of. It has huge issues around its residential property market that will be a drag on growth for some time, but it also has pockets of growth in a lot of fast-growing industries that it is a world leader in.
A bit of policy stimulus and you might start seeing investors taking another look at China because it's been so out of favour for ages now.
It's not just property market now, google Zhongzhi Enterprise Group.
 
It's not just property market now, google Zhongzhi Enterprise Group.
That's tied directly to the property market. There no doubt will be more bankruptcies as well - there are other financial firms in default on property-related investment products.
Seems more a protracted serious downturn rather than meltdown though, which would suggest a collapse.
 
That's tied directly to the property market. There no doubt will be more bankruptcies as well - there are other financial firms in default on property-related investment products.
Seems more a protracted serious downturn rather than meltdown though, which would suggest a collapse.
There are also structural problems with the economy, the blackhole that is the highspeed rail system, the huge youth unemployment rate that is so high they decided to stop reporting it.

We'll see, I wouldn't be surprised so see the Chinese economy stagnate for decades like Japan 30 years ago.
 
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I have a very different view on this, see what you guys think.

They are in a rush, or at least emperor Xi is, they are in the midst of a economic meltdown and Taiwanese people are becoming less and less Chinese everyday with the older generation dying off.

They are not about to catch up with the US militarily in the foreeseable future.

Their biggest chance is to have KMT win an election so they can attack and have the Taiwanese president surrender before the US can help.

DPP getting elected is the best thing for peace across the strait as it maintains the status quo for now.

Definitely there are arguments for going slow and some to go fast

The advantages of going is slow is giving time for china to catch up with semiconductors to not depend on taiwan, catching up economically and military with US, finishing the new silk route to have more supply routes and specially how the west influence crumbles with trump and the likes, if the west fecks up with ukraine and israel for example

The fast track is china's growth, as much is still very good, will not get any better as it is entering in mature phase and middle class will demand more things than economic growth causing unrest. Nationalism will raise to counter it and taiwan is the perfect target.

Also, like putin in ukraine, os xi's legacy

I read over and over that something might happen in 2027-28. But dont know what is based on
 
There are also structural problems with the economy, the blackhole that is the highspeed rail system, the huge youth unemployment rate that is so high they decided to stop reporting it.

We'll see, I wouldn't be surprised so see the Chinese economy stagnate for decades like Japan 30 years ago.
Add to that China's demographic problem.

Ofcourse, China may very well overcome all these problems and keep growing. But there's a reason why some people argue that China has peaked already.

Anyway, that's for the "Cold war with China" thread.
 
No, conquering and annexing Taiwain is basically Emperor Xi's lifetime ambition.

Unless the CCP collapses, they'll never recognize Taiwan independence.

China's goal in Taiwan is influence, not territorial conquests. As long as Taiwan doesn't do anything stupid, like a formal declaration of independence, they will keep playing their diplomatic games for domestic support.

Xi outwards wants a pro China government in Taiwan, and a long term plan for unification, but he will be more than happy to use Taiwan as a symbol of US imperialism to distract from other issues. As long as Taiwain keep to the status quo - and the US does the same - China will keep rattling sabers without actually doing anything.
 
China's goal in Taiwan is influence, not territorial conquests. As long as Taiwan doesn't do anything stupid, like a formal declaration of independence, they will keep playing their diplomatic games for domestic support.

Xi outwards wants a pro China government in Taiwan, and a long term plan for unification, but he will be more than happy to use Taiwan as a symbol of US imperialism to distract from other issues. As long as Taiwain keep to the status quo - and the US does the same - China will keep rattling sabers without actually doing anything.
How does this square with Xi saying that reunification is inevitable?
 
How does this square with Xi saying that reunification is inevitable?

Taiwan is a very useful symbol for Chinese nationalism. It represents a power struggle with the US in their own back yard. When China needs to distract from something, like COVID restrictions, their go to thing is to talk about reunification. They've been doing that for a very long time now.

Whenever nationalism becomes too feverish Xi (and any other Chinese chairman) plays the "Reunification is inevitable" card, and references a cultural Chinese concept that time is on their side, Chinese culture is superior and will eventually win. A concept that dates back to Imperial China'a approach to invasions and their tributary system. He specifically avoids putting down a time frame, and avoids talking about using force for reunification.

When it was reported in the US that China were preparing for an invasion in 2028, he visited Washington to specifically say that there were no plans for an invasion, but there are certain conditions that could force his hand. Which was understood as an admission that as long as no one does anything stupid, China isn't invading.
 

Another one of those white apologists working for the CCP to distort the facts and praise the emperor.

Consider this, the DPP have managed to win a historic 3rd consecutive term that has never ever happened before in Taiwan since they started having elections, and the vast majority of Taiwanese people now only see themselves as Taiwanese and not Chinese.

The main reason their vote share dropped was because of a 3rd part candidate who took votes from both sides, the video failed to mention KMT's support also plummeted.
 
China's goal in Taiwan is influence, not territorial conquests. As long as Taiwan doesn't do anything stupid, like a formal declaration of independence, they will keep playing their diplomatic games for domestic support.

Xi outwards wants a pro China government in Taiwan, and a long term plan for unification, but he will be more than happy to use Taiwan as a symbol of US imperialism to distract from other issues. As long as Taiwain keep to the status quo - and the US does the same - China will keep rattling sabers without actually doing anything.

Stupid like Ukraine trying to join Nato? Just curious why the stupidity falls on the independent state and people who are doing regular democratic things rather than the powerful neighbour's violent criminality.
 
Stupid like Ukraine trying to join Nato? Just curious why the stupidity falls on the independent state and people who are doing regular democratic things rather than the powerful neighbour's violent criminality.

It has nothing to do with that. Taiwain is in all practical things a self governed state protected by a superpower and the status quo. They don't need to formally declare independence. It will cause nothing but problems for them.

China will see a decleration of independence as an end to any hope of reunification, nationalists will be in incensed and Xi will face immense domestic pressure to invade. The US is likely to consider the decleration unwise and a break with the status quo, causing them to limit their involvement to supplying Taiwan. The reason for that will be the other S.Asian countries. Because they will primarily be worried about Chinese agression and a change to China's relatively stable foreign policy.

If China attacks without any change to the status quo, that would likely be considered a substantial change in China's regional strategy and one that would spark a fuse under the powder keg among S.Asian countries. Japan would militarize, S.Korea would worry US has lost control, N.Korea would take advantage and join China, Russia would provide ample unofficial support to have the US distracted and suddenly the entire region would be an unstable mess. The US would have no choice but to enter the war as an active participant because of their active guarantees or watch as the world is engulfed in chaos because it would signal to the world that the US no longer has the influence or power to maintain world stability. Japan will be wanting nukes and Korea will explode, US influence in the region evaporates and the world's supply of technogy dries out. If China moves first, it's world war three.

That likely won't happen if Taiwan is the one to change the status quo. At that point it's not a change in Chinese regional strategy or agression. Other S.Asian countries will be less concerned and partly view it as a self-inflicted situation given that Taiwan went against the status quo they all rely on for stability, and look for the US to ensure the conflict is isolated to Taiwan and not brought to their door step. They will push for ambiguity about US protection of Taiwan, and they will get it. It's a different dynamic all together. They will be concerned that the radical shift in Taiwan's politics will drag them into a war through the US. The US will increase military presence in S.Korea and Japan to prevent a massive increase in militarization, while assuring them that they will stand against Chinese agression should the chinese look beyond Taiwan. Everyone will pay lip service to Tawian's right to independence while quietly hoping Taiwan manages to wound China a bit and China can appease the domestic crowd by taking Taiwan. When that war ends, they will all reasses the situation and likely land on a new status quo.

So I ask you, what is the point? Why do it? It's not a question of morality.
 
It has nothing to do with that. Taiwain is in all practical things a self governed state protected by a superpower and the status quo. They don't need to formally declare independence. It will cause nothing but problems for them.

China will see a decleration of independence as an end to any hope of reunification, nationalists will be in incensed and Xi will face immense domestic pressure to invade. The US is likely to consider the decleration unwise and a break with the status quo, causing them to limit their involvement to supplying Taiwan. The reason for that will be the other S.Asian countries. Because they will primarily be worried about Chinese agression and a change to China's relatively stable foreign policy.

If China attacks without any change to the status quo, that would likely be considered a substantial change in China's regional strategy and one that would spark a fuse under the powder keg among S.Asian countries. Japan would militarize, S.Korea would worry US has lost control, N.Korea would take advantage and join China, Russia would provide ample unofficial support to have the US distracted and suddenly the entire region would be an unstable mess. The US would have no choice but to enter the war as an active participant because of their active guarantees or watch as the world is engulfed in chaos because it would signal to the world that the US no longer has the influence or power to maintain world stability. Japan will be wanting nukes and Korea will explode, US influence in the region evaporates and the world's supply of technogy dries out. If China moves first, it's world war three.

That likely won't happen if Taiwan is the one to change the status quo. At that point it's not a change in Chinese regional strategy or agression. Other S.Asian countries will be less concerned and partly view it as a self-inflicted situation given that Taiwan went against the status quo they all rely on for stability, and look for the US to ensure the conflict is isolated to Taiwan and not brought to their door step. They will push for ambiguity about US protection of Taiwan, and they will get it. It's a different dynamic all together. They will be concerned that the radical shift in Taiwan's politics will drag them into a war through the US. The US will increase military presence in S.Korea and Japan to prevent a massive increase in militarization, while assuring them that they will stand against Chinese agression should the chinese look beyond Taiwan. Everyone will pay lip service to Tawian's right to independence while quietly hoping Taiwan manages to wound China a bit and China can appease the domestic crowd by taking Taiwan. When that war ends, they will all reasses the situation and likely land on a new status quo.

So I ask you, what is the point? Why do it? It's not a question of morality.

Something strange about people wanting to feel independent, this idea that a foreign government claims some pseudoownership over your land and people just doesn't sit right. It's not morality but it's something innately human. That's why they might want to do it. I agree with you it comes with a lot of risks so lets examine the scenarios you laid out:

Option A: China attacks first; Japan militarizes, Korea gets engulfed in war, Russia and the US will get involved and we get nukes and WW3

Option B: Taiwan declares independence, The other South Asian countries are less concerned, The US is forced to isolate the conflict by increasing military funding,

In both options you are assuming the only way Beijing can politically handle Taiwanese independence is war but leaving that aside the reaction of the other players and the South Asian states in particular is where I disagree with you. China's influence over the south east asian states is a double edged sword. The situation in Myanmar has shown that even a China backed junta can be toppled( with some chinese help). The trend in the populations is towards western style democratic ideals and each individual country will have it's own fundamental issues. This is all to say that a chinese attack is going to be the absolute worst thing Xi can do for Chinese interests and it's highly unlikely even the US can control the ripple effects.

I personally don't think it would make sense for Taiwan to seek an independence referendum for a lot of similar reasons as yours but I wouldn't begrudge their people a choice that is theirs to make.
 
Something strange about people wanting to feel independent, this idea that a foreign government claims some pseudoownership over your land and people just doesn't sit right. It's not morality but it's something innately human. That's why they might want to do it. I agree with you it comes with a lot of risks so lets examine the scenarios you laid out:

Option A: China attacks first; Japan militarizes, Korea gets engulfed in war, Russia and the US will get involved and we get nukes and WW3

Option B: Taiwan declares independence, The other South Asian countries are less concerned, The US is forced to isolate the conflict by increasing military funding,

In both options you are assuming the only way Beijing can politically handle Taiwanese independence is war but leaving that aside the reaction of the other players and the South Asian states in particular is where I disagree with you. China's influence over the south east asian states is a double edged sword. The situation in Myanmar has shown that even a China backed junta can be toppled( with some chinese help). The trend in the populations is towards western style democratic ideals and each individual country will have it's own fundamental issues. This is all to say that a chinese attack is going to be the absolute worst thing Xi can do for Chinese interests and it's highly unlikely even the US can control the ripple effects.

I personally don't think it would make sense for Taiwan to seek an independence referendum for a lot of similar reasons as yours but I wouldn't begrudge their people a choice that is theirs to make.

In the current political climate, I do not see how they can avoid war if they declare independence.

What I believe is important to remember about Taiwain is that it's a signal fire as much as a country. Taiwain, unfairly sure, represents the stability of the entire region and is a microcosm of the larger geopolitical situation in the region. It is a very real representation of the delicate power balance between China and the US, and its allies in the region. Japan and S.Korea are both keeping an eye on China and their reigional ambitions. While everyone is also keeping an eye on Japan's militarisation, who hisorically has been an agressor in the region. Should China attack without any "provocation", I think all hell would break loose. It would signal to the rest of the region that China has changed their regional ambitions and are becoming more agressive. Japan would push for defense spending to protect their claim over Senkaku. S.Korea would see that as a sign that the US has lost control over Japan's military and that their influence is waning, and start pushing their own defense spending to protect against both China and Japan. South Korea would be particularly worried that Japanese nationalism would rise and that Japan could aggressively seek to assert themselves as a leader in the region, and perhaps even go for the dokdo islands. An attack on Taiwain would tell the region that the US no longer has the power or influence to maintain stability and act as a counter-weight to China. The US would be forced to get involved to disprove that - and the reasons I outlined previously - which would mean that their military pressence in the region would become problematic.

If Taiwan were to announce their independence now, this would be a seismic shift in the status quo. It would signal to the region that China is losing its influence, and that the balance of power has changed. Beijing would have to respond or conceed that their ambitions for regional influence have changed. Now they could just let it go and try to adapt to a more diplomatic type of influence, but this would cause singificant issues domestically. This situation may of course change in time, but as it is the CCP would struggle with this scenario and will want to respond forcefully. However, that response will likely be viewed through the lens of China being consistent in their regional ambitions. The US would at best get involved on equal footing to what we see in Ukraine, but nothing more, simply because it wouldn't be necessary to keep the rest of the region relatively stable - and I have my doubts they would even do that. The US will do what is necessary to maintain regional stability, they aren't a charity or moral beacon - contrary to what they may want to project outward. Theres no reason to believe that Beijing has become more agressive if they do so in response to a declaration of independence, and other countries in the region would be aware of that. It would cause heightened tensions for a while, but eventually the situation would calm down - provided the US doesn't do anything stupid in the meantime.

We see signs of how little interest the US would have to defend Taiwain should they announce their independence in the recent comments by Joe Biden.
"We do not support independence..." Biden said, when asked for reaction to Saturday's elections.
U.S. does not support Taiwan independence, Biden says | Reuters

Taiwainese people are of course free to make whatever decisions they wish to make, but the choice of declaring independence isn't really a choice. We can pretend that it makes a difference or does something positive, but in reality it's just a huge risk with literally no benefits.
 
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Biden says a lot of things, in fact he's been crystal clear on sending US military to defend Taiwan on multiple occasions, with subsequent White House backtracking but he himself never backtracked on these:



William Lai has made it very clear he won't be "declaring independence" as the DPP already sees Taiwan as an independent nation, they have their own, government, military, currency, etc.

It's really upto Emperor Xi to start WWIII, he invades Taiwan, all hell breaks lose, Putin may try his luck against NATO and Iran against Israel.

I think US and allies will win out, but many people won't live to see it.
 
I dont understand a taiwan's declaration of independence. Regardless of what china of other countries things of taiwan's status, doesnt taiwan considers themselves and independent country already? Why they would need a referendum?