May 24, 2016

Last Friday, May 20, Tsai Ing-wen became the first woman president of Taiwan, an island nation in the South China Sea. Tsai, of the Democratic Progressive Party, won election back in January, easily defeating Eric Chu of Taiwan’s incumbent—and long dominant—Kuomintang party. In the few months between election and inauguration, Tsai assembled a new Cabinet and appointed people to senior government positions, leaning on professional capacity over partisan politics. She announced green energy and biotechnology initiatives aimed at improving Taiwan’s faltering economy. She also vowed to keep Taiwan in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement and maintain strong investment in national defense.

Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen gestures to supporters after her election victory in January 2016. She took office as Taiwan’s first woman president in May. Credit: © Damir Sagolj, Reuters

Taiwan’s most pressing issue, however, is its often-rocky relationship with its giant neighbor across the Taiwan Strait, the People’s Republic of China. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, but Taiwan considers itself an independent nation. Tsai has vowed to protect Taiwan’s democracy and freedom. She has also taken a pragmatic and diplomatic tone when dealing with China, and hopes to maintain the existing status quo. Under current conditions, Taiwan largely acts independently but refrains from provoking China by not openly proclaiming its independence.

Tsai Ing-wen was born on Aug. 31, 1956, in Fangshan Township, located in Pingtung County in southern Taiwan. By the time Tsai was a teenager, her family had moved to Taipei. Tsai studied law in Taiwan, the United States, and in the United Kingdom, and taught law in Taipei before entering politics.

Tsai—affectionately called “Little Ing” by her supporters—boasts a few other “firsts” besides being Taiwan’s first woman president. She is also the nation’s first unmarried president with no children (but she proudly exhibited her two cats on the campaign trail). She is the first president of Hō-ló, Hakka, and aboriginal Taiwanese descent. Tsai is also the first Taiwanese president who was not previously mayor of Taipei. In fact, she is the first president to have never before held an elected post.

November 9, 2015

Over the weekend, the leaders of China and Taiwan met for the first time in more than 60 years. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou met for dinner in Singapore on November 7. Although the meeting was seen as a largely symbolic gesture, it represented a major step toward normalizing relations between the two governments.

In 1946, a civil war broke out in China between supporters of the Communist Party and the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party). The war ended in 1949, after the Communists drove the Nationalists from China’s mainland. The Communist leader, Mao Zedong, proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, based in Beijing. The Nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan, where they established the Republic of China, based in Taipei.

Tensions between the two countries have deep historical roots. Following a period of unrest, Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party leader Chiang Kai-shek led a campaign to unite China under a single central government. At first, members of China’s Communist Party aided the Nationalists. In 1927, however, the Nationalists turned against the Communists, and hundreds of Communists were executed. The Nationalists captured Beijing in 1928 and gained control of China. The Communists continued to fight the Nationalists. Full-scale fighting in a civil war between the two parties began in 1946. In 1949, the Communists captured Beijing and announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists fled to Taiwan. Since then, the heads of the two governments had not met until this past weekend.

Today, China regards Taiwan as a renegade province, and Taiwan considers itself an independent nation. Ma and Xi, who assumed the presidencies of their nations in 2008 and 2013, respectively, have worked to reduce tensions and increase trade and cultural links between their countries. Many Taiwanese people are suspicious of China’s increased influence in their country, particularly in light of a Taiwanese presidential election scheduled for January 2016. Ma and the Nationalists have lost a large amount of support in recent years. The party suffered widespread defeat in 2014 local elections that analysts viewed as a referendum on Taiwan’s relations with China. Following the defeat, Ma resigned as party chairman, though he remained in office as president.

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• China (2013)
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