Ng Soon Kiat

The Taiwanese are looking increasingly lost and powerless as they face rising China-US competition and now, the pandemic. Zaobao correspondent Ng Soon Kiat reflects on the years he has spent in Taipei, and wishes the best for the beautiful island he has called home for more than three years.

Turning a corner in recent days in the fight against Covid-19, China may now take stock of those who have been nasty or nice during the crisis. Taiwan may have won international praise and recognition for its efforts against the Covid-19 epidemic, but incurred Beijing’s ire in the process. Zaobao correspondent Ng Soon Kiat finds out more about how mainland China might respond, and how things might turn difficult for Tsai Ing-wen’s second term in government.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has been winning praise for her team’s handling of the Covid-19 outbreak. Premier Su Tseng-chang who calls himself “capable”, is said to be leading a group of capable government officials; Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, has become the darling of the media and of the people of Taiwan. What have they done to garner such support?

Ng Soon Kiat finds that the “I am from Taiwan” stickers that have popped up recently are not only a utilitarian guard against sinophobia, but possibly a political badge asserting Taiwan’s separate identity.

Taiwan is not the only intended audience for mainland China’s most recent spate of fly-bys over Taiwan airspace. In extraordinary coronavirus times when the government’s authority is being questioned, Beijing flexes its military muscle.

On Saturday, Taiwan voted in its presidential election, with incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party returned to office with a resounding 57% of votes, defeating the Kuomintang’s Han Kuo-yu. Ng Soon Kiat analyses the results and what it means for Taiwan politics.

With less than two weeks before Taiwanese head to the polls on 11 January 2020 to elect their next President, generational divides have become more apparent: while the younger generation tend to support Tsai Ing-wen and her progressive reforms on issues such as LGBT rights, the older generation look to Han Kuo-yu for a sense of stability and keeping things as they used to be. Ng Soon Kiat looks at what each generation says about the other, and what the green and blue camps are doing to woo young voters.

As the Taiwan election approaches, incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen has managed to improve her standing with voters, amid a challenge from Kuomintang candidate Han Kuo-yu. However, one of the issues that Ms Tsai has to address is cross-strait ties with mainland China. How will Ms Tsai show goodwill towards the mainland, while keeping the people of Taiwan happy?

The conflation of gay rights, Taiwan’s independence and anti-nuclear issues can be a recipe for deepening fissures in society. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Ng Soon Kiat opines that progressive values that are linked together by an election can be held hostage by politicians and political ideologies, and lose their rationality and true meanings.