Cross-strait relations

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.

All eyes are on Johnny Chiang, the 48-year-old who was elected the new chairman of Taiwan's Kuomintang. Chiang won all the elections he stood for in 2012, 2016, and 2020, and was the KMT Legislative Yuan member with the most votes in the 2020 general election. Political scientist Zhu Zhiqun says Chiang is, without a doubt, the most suitable candidate to be KMT chairman right now. But what are the challenges faced by the ailing party under new leadership, and the implications these may have on cross-strait relations?

Intransigence from the governments in Beijing and Taipei has kept a number of Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan, the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak. While views in Taiwan are split, academics have launched a petition calling for politics to take a backseat in the face of a humanitarian crisis.

With “Island encirclement” drills over Taiwan airspace, verbal exchanges and other moves, China reiterates its firm stance against independence for Taiwan. The latter, meanwhile, continues to find wiggle room by growing its international space.

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.

Not even the shared threat of Wuhan coronavirus can bring Taiwan and mainland China closer together. Zhu Zhiqun says recent developments do not bode well for cross-strait relations in the years ahead.

Just about a week after the Taiwan presidential election, the rhetoric from both sides of the Taiwan Strait is aggressive. Will China take military action to take back Taiwan, or go with a safer approach? Zaobao associate editor Han Yong Hong examines the reasons for Tsai Ing-wen’s big win and concludes that young people will play a major role in the future.

While Beijing has been relatively restrained in commenting on the Taiwan election, Chinese state media has been criticising the US for backing the Democratic Progressive Party in opposing the mainland. Zaobao journalist Edwin Ong speaks to Sun Zhe, co-director of the China Initiative at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, who opines that Chinese state media was raising reasonable doubt on behalf of the state.