China: Taiwan voters must choose between peace and war
In Taiwan’s presidential election scheduled to be held on January 13 next year, the unification of pro-China opposition candidates failed. They were unable to produce a single candidate by the candidate registration deadline of the 24th and registered candidates separately. If the election continues like this, it seems highly likely that the anti-China ruling party will succeed in coming back to power. In response, China presented a position to Taiwanese voters: “Choose between peace and war.”
According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency on the 24th, the main opposition party, the Kuomintang Party, and the second opposition party, the People’s Party, each registered their candidates on this day, the deadline for candidate registration. Accordingly, the Kuomintang Party’s candidate Hou Yuyi (侯友宜) and the People’s Party’s candidate Ke Wenze (柯文哲) are running for the presidential election.
Previously, on the 15th, the People’s Party and the People’s Party agreed to unify candidates and decided on the presidential and vice-presidential candidates by the 18th through a public opinion poll. However, unification failed due to differences of opinion on how much margin of error in opinion polls should be acknowledged. It is reported that the two parties continued negotiations until the day before the candidate registration deadline, but were unable to narrow down their differences.
According to Taiwanese media, the current opinion poll results show that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate Lai Ching-de is ranked first. Candidate Lai is a representative anti-China politician and has a strong tendency for Taiwanese independence. Following Lai, pro-Beijing candidates Hou and Ke are in second and third places, and independent candidate Guo Taiming is in fourth place. Although there are differences, the 2nd to 4th place candidates are classified as pro-China. Taiwanese media analyzed that if the second and third pro-Beijing candidates succeed in unification, they will win no matter who becomes the presidential candidate. However, as the opposition parties failed to unify their candidates, the votes of pro-China voters were bound to be divided. Accordingly, the possibility of victory for the ruling party candidate Rai also increased.
However, although it seems unlikely at present, the possibility of a last-minute unification during the election campaign period cannot be ruled out. Additionally, if public opinion demanding unification intensifies, there is a possibility that one of the opposition party candidates will resign.
As the possibility of candidate Lai, an anti-China politician, winning increased due to the failure to unify the opposition, China responded by saying, “Taiwan is currently facing two future choices: peace and war, prosperity and decline.” According to China Central Television (CCTV) on the 24th, Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said, “We respect the current social system in Taiwan.” Spokesperson Chen said, “We hope that the election results early next year will help maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan region and return cross-Strait relations to the right track of peace and development.”
Taiwan’s Presidential Election Commission plans to review the qualifications of registered presidential and vice-presidential candidates by the 5th of next month and announce the final list of candidates on the 15th of next month. The TV policy debate between candidates will be held between the 16th of next month and January 12th of next year.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.