Late in the evening of Jan. 16 this year, not long after the results of the nation’s general election became apparent, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) emerged onto a stage packed with allies and supporters to make her first remarks as president-elect. Standing before an electrified crowd, she declared: “Today, the Taiwanese people have used their ballots to make history.”
Running on a platform of comprehensive political, economic and social reforms, Tsai won a landslide victory in the presidential election. She garnered 56 percent of the vote, receiving a clear mandate to reshape Taiwan’s governmental policies and institutions.
Inaugurated on May 20 as the first female president of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Tsai is now in a position to offer the nation a new start. She also faces considerable challenges. These include, but are not limited to, turning around a faltering economy, tackling income inequality, providing an effective community-based social safety net, managing cross-strait relations, and building a more inclusive, united society.
Yet there is strong public optimism regarding the prospects for her administration. This sense of hope is fostered by her track record as an accomplished administrator, skilled negotiator, and consensus-building leader.
Tsai, right, and Vice President-elect Chen Chien-jen wave to supporters in Taipei on Jan. 16 following their election victory.
From Scholar to Politician
A former law professor, Tsai has described her political career as an “accidental life.” Born in 1956 in Taipei, she is the youngest of 11 children. Unlike other female leaders in the region, she does not come from a political family.
Tsai is of Hakka and aboriginal descent, and has long supported efforts to promote the languages and cultures of Taiwan’s diverse ethnic groups. Her father was a successful entrepreneur, building a transportation and car maintenance business from scratch. She attributes her diligence, flexibility, professionalism and resilience to his influence.
She dedicated much of the first half of her life to academic studies. She graduated from National Taiwan University’s College of Law before earning a Master of Laws at Cornell University and a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Over the past several decades, Tsai has accumulated impressive and comprehensive political experience. She was first drawn into public life in 1986 due to her international trade expertise, and later played a central role in negotiations for Taiwan’s entry into the World Trade Organization.
In 2000, she was appointed minister of the Mainland Affairs Council. Despite the chill in cross-strait ties during this period, she oversaw major breakthroughs, including the establishment of the mini three links—direct postal, trade and transportation services between mainland China and Taiwan’s outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu—as well as regulations to legalize Taiwanese investment in mainland China.
Previously an independent, Tsai joined the DPP in 2004. She served as national policy adviser to the president from 2004 to 2005, legislator-at-large from 2005 to 2006 and vice premier from January 2006 to May 2007. During her vice premiership, Tsai worked to cultivate innovative industries, notably the biotechnology sector. She collaborated with Academia Sinica, the nation’s foremost research institution, and the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry to help draft the 2007 Act for the Development of Biotech and New Pharmaceuticals Industry. This law has fostered the growth of the local biotech sector.
Drawing on these successful experiences, President Tsai’s economic policies aim to bolster the nation’s competitiveness by shifting from an efficiency-driven economic model to an innovation-driven one.
Tsai, right, attends a forum on hydrogen power development at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center in southern Taiwan on March 5.
Rise to the Presidency
Tsai successfully ran for the chairpersonship of the DPP when the party returned to opposition after the 2008 general election. Prior to this point, she was widely respected by the public as a skilled technocrat, yet few foresaw her emergence as an inspirational political leader.
After assuming the chairpersonship of the DPP, Tsai began to combine her scholarly wisdom with a captivating message, developing into a confident and gripping public speaker. As her popularity rose, she grew increasingly comfortable in the public spotlight. Though soft-spoken, she exhibits a natural, disarming charisma. She is well known as an animal lover and has been frequently pictured with her two cats, Cookie and Ah Tsai, who have become celebrities in their own right.
As party leader, Tsai has rebuilt the DPP and transformed its fortunes. Not long after assuming the chairpersonship, she guided it to a series of by-election victories. In the 2012 legislative polls, the party boosted its total number of seats to 40. Earlier this year, it earned a substantial majority of 68 out of 113 seats.
Tsai represented her party in the 2012 presidential election, losing to incumbent Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in a fiercely contested race. She subsequently resigned the chairpersonship of the DPP. After taking a brief break from frontline politics, she was re-elected as party chairperson in May 2014. As a result, she became the first person to win a third term as leader of the DPP.
In the lead-up to Taiwan’s first-ever nationwide local-level elections in November 2014, “Little Ing,” as Tsai is known to her supporters, stumped for DPP candidates across the country, seeking to inspire and unite voters disillusioned with the direction of the nation. At a campaign event in central Taiwan’s Taichung City on the eve of the polls, she made a stirring appeal to those she called the “silent majority.”
The DPP achieved a resounding victory in the local elections, claiming the top offices in 13 out of the country’s 22 administrative regions. These successes underscored the major shifts in Taiwan’s political landscape and set the stage for Tsai’s successful bid for the presidency.
Reform Agenda
Having earned the trust of the Taiwanese people, Tsai will now begin the work of guiding the nation toward a more prosperous future. A major focus is rejuvenating the economy.
To this end, the president plans to pursue, among other measures, export diversification, membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the promotion of five major innovative industries including biotechnology, national defense, Internet of Things, green energy and precision machinery.
As the recent economic slowdown has disproportionally affected the country’s young generation, Tsai intends to introduce a raft of policies to help young families bear the burdens of housing and care for family members. These initiatives will involve substantial investments in social housing and community care services.
Tsai is committed to pursuing transitional justice and will establish an investigation and reconciliation commission under the Office of the President to uncover historical truths concerning the era of single-party authoritarian rule. The results of this work will be used to craft diverse and enlightened educational content, which in turn will help ensure that young people better understand Taiwan’s history.
With regard to indigenous communities, she plans to introduce programs to boost business development, improve long-term care services, and revive languages and cultural traditions. Measures such as these will help lay the foundation for the implementation of autonomous rule in indigenous areas. She will also offer an official apology on behalf of the government to Taiwan’s indigenous peoples for the oppression and exploitation they have suffered.
In the broader context, Tsai aims to cultivate a new kind of political environment in which the citizenry communicates freely with a receptive, transparent government. She has advocated the use of national affairs conferences to tackle vital issues such as pension reform.
Most significantly, President Tsai hopes to put an end to the social antagonism that has plagued the country in recent years and will seek to dispel political fighting by consulting with opposition parties on major policy issues. In her victory speech in Taipei on Jan. 16 this year, she emphasized her commitment to fostering national unity. “We will not be divided by an election,” she said. “Instead, we will become even more united because of our democracy.”
President Tsai’s
Five Major Political Reforms
Generational Justice
* Aid young people in finding employment opportunities and starting new businesses
* Help alleviate the burdens that housing and care for family members place on young families
* Promote pension reform, remove red tape and shore up fiscal policy for the benefit of current and future generations
Government Institutions
* Improve communication with citizens regarding the motivations behind government policies as well as their intended effects
* Make information in the government’s possession available to opposition parties
* Establish “one stop” service windows on pressing issues and review outmoded personnel and organizational structures
The Legislature
* Promote constitutional reform that will allow the will of the people to be better reflected within the Legislature; lower the threshold for parties to win legislative seats
* Ensure that the system guarantees a neutral legislative speaker
* Bolster legislative staffing agencies’ research capabilities as well as their professionalism and nonpartisanship
Transitional Justice
* Offer an official apology on behalf of the government for the oppression and exploitation suffered by indigenous peoples
* Restore historical truth about past administrations’ use of violence and coercion
* Work to guarantee that no political party can benefit from inappropriately acquired assets
An End to Partisanship
* Put a stop to social antagonism and the malicious fighting between political parties
* Bring together those who support progressive ideas to create a reform alliance
* Foster internal solidarity so that the world will observe a united Taiwan
Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw
PHOTO CREDITS: Chang Su-ching, Chen Mei-ling, Chin Hung-hao, Chuang Kung-ju, Richard Chung, Huang Chung-hsin, Kuo Han-chen, Jimmy Lin, Appier Inc., Bocheng Long-term Care Services, Carbon-Based Technology Inc., Central News Agency, CommonWealth Magazine, Democratic Progressive Party, Executive Yuan, International Cooperation and Development Fund, Kaohsiung City Government, Kavalan Distillery, Legislative Yuan, Linking Publishing, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New Power Party, Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, Taoyuan City Government, United Daily News
ILLUSTRATIONS AND INFOGRAPHICS: Cho Yi-ju, Yui Han, Kao Shun-hui