Politics

With Taiwan’s “nine-in-one” local elections just days away, political parties are ramping up their campaign rallies, with the mayoral race tightening in key battlegrounds of Taoyuan, Taipei and Hsinchu, and implications for the presidential race at stake.

Taiwanese academic Chang-Ling Huang explains the importance of gender quota laws in pushing forward women’s representation in politics, observing that while China and Japan have had poor women political representation, Taiwan has managed to be a bright spot in East Asia.

After details of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s informal discussion during the G20 meeting was reported in Western media, Xi followed up with Trudeau to express his displeasure. However, the interaction sent Western media into a frenzy, reporting that Xi “confronted” or “scolded” Trudeau. In light of the sensationalisation of the incident, China may need to be more familiar with how the media in Western democracies work.

The handshakes and smiles in Bali have triggered some optimism about Sino-US relations going forward. Yet the slight uptick in Sino-US relations post-Bali might well be short-lived, given the superpowers’ underlying structural competition and deep mutual distrust.

Taiwanese academic Chiung-Chiu Huang explains the concept of China’s “international united front” strategy which remains a guiding principle today. By using this softly-softly approach that seeks common ground and low-hanging fruit, China has managed its relations with countries it deems not outrightly hostile. In doing so, it may not win friends, but it may at least make fewer enemies.

The Group of 7 are relatively aligned in their perceptions of global challenges, particularly when it comes to strategic competitors such as China and Russia, but the same perceptions do not hold true when it comes to the remaining members of the bigger Group of 20.

The long-awaited face-to-face meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping finally took place this week on the sidelines of the G20 summit. While both sides expectedly reiterated their stance on key issues such as climate change, North Korea and the Russia-Ukraine war, the Taiwan issue continues to be the highlight, with Xi marking it as the “first red line’’ that must not be crossed. Zaobao journalists Miao Zong-Han and Daryl Lim tell us more.

ASEAN is set to play host to world leaders, with three major events coming up over the next two weeks in Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand. The highlight is the G20 summit in Bali, where US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet face-to-face for the first time. Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong analyses what we can expect from these meetings.

Lianhe Zaobao associate editor Peter Ong remarks that the likelihood of a nuclear war has suddenly increased manyfold since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Besides Russia, the US has also become the main actor that could initiate the use of nuclear weapons. He shares his thoughts on these major powers’ historic and present-day views of nuclear weapons. Are they willing to risk it all?