Taipei, Taiwan – Independent theatre producer Lin Chihyu, 29, originally planned to travel to Vietnam with her maternal grandfather to attend a friend’s wedding ceremony before Taiwan held general elections in January.
But five days before the poll she changed her mind and decided not to book her flight.
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“If there’s no Taiwan, I feel it will be very hard to have another place in Asia that has this degree of freedom,” said Lin, who voted for incumbent Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the capital Taipei.
“Only Taiwan that allows you to be that free for saying [what you want to say].”
A democratic political system with a high degree of freedom has fostered a generation of young people increasingly proud of their Taiwanese roots, creating a generational shift that is likely to become an increasing issue in the island’s future politics.
“It is fascinating how Taiwanese who were born even 10 years apart can have such different life experiences,” said Margaret Lewis, an expert on Taiwanese politics and a law professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
“People my age remember martial law and were old enough to vote in the first direct presidential election [in 1996]. People 10 years younger might have vague memories of authoritarian times, but they came of age in a free and democratic Taiwan,” 44-year-old Lewis added.
In a survey on changes in Taiwanese and Chinese identity among people on the island, National Chengchi University’s Election Study Center found that as of June 2019 about 57 percent of people identified as Taiwanese, while 37 percent said they were both Taiwanese and Chinese. Only 4 percent said they were Chinese while the rest chose not to answer.
Meanwhile, a survey from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy found 82 percent of respondents aged between 20 and 29 were willing to defend Taiwan if “China uses force against Taiwan for unification”.
The Republic of China (ROC) was originally established in 1912 in mainland China. After being defeated by the communists in the civil war in 1949, however, its nationalist leaders relocated to Taiwan, where they set themselves up in power.
The victorious communist, meanwhile, set up the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and considers Taiwan part of its territory. It has not ruled out the use of force to incorporate it with the mainland.
Not China
Another young person who backed Tsai was Cathy Chan, a 23-year-old master’s student at the National Taiwan University, who went home to Taoyuan in northern Taiwan so she could vote.
“When studying in Japan, many people thought that Taiwan was China,” Chan told Al Jazeera, explaining some of the frustration she feels at others’ lack of knowledge about her homeland.
“I want to confidently tell everyone that I am from Taiwan. And Taiwan is a beautiful democratic, free country.”
Timothy S Rich, an associate professor of political science at the Western Kentucky University (WKU), who has studied Taiwanese electoral politics and public opinion, said younger Taiwanese were “far less likely” to see themselves as Chinese other than in a broad acknowledgement of cultural similarities.
“They see Taiwan as a sovereign state separate from China,” he added.
Johnny Chiang, centre, was elected the leader of the pro-China KMT earlier this month, He is the youngest person to ever hold the position as the party faces a generational shift that’s changing the face of politics [Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA]
Austin Wang, an assistant professor at the department of political science at the University of Nevada, told Al Jazeera that a growing sense of unique identity has become one of the most significant trends in Taiwan in the last 30 years.
He said while the older generations still see themselves as part Chinese, and unification an opportunity to resolve China’s so-called “century of humiliation” – the term used in China to describe the period from the middle of the 19th century when it was dominated by Japan, Russia and European powers – young people have different ideas.
“For the young generation who only identifies themselves as Taiwanese, they mostly see the case of Hong Kong [protests] as the example [of Chinese rule],” said Wang, who has studied Taiwanese politics and political psychology, adding the youth are mostly against China’s unification.
“Even though the former KMT authoritarian regime tried to persuade Taiwanese people to be Chinese, the de facto separation had made Taiwanese and Chinese people different in many aspects,” he added, referring to the then-ruling Kuomintang party that imposed martial law on the island from 1949 to 1987.
That authoritarian system had a significant effect on Taiwan’s older generation, many of whom remain reluctant to speak freely.
Chen Yi Chun, 29, who works in a bookshop, said her mother told her every day not to write “careless” posts on politics on her Facebook.
“Once we this generation were born, we had this freedom right away, so there’s no way for us to understand what they were scared of,” Chen said. Taiwan’s “unification” with China would be a “very scary thing”, she added.
Rich of the WKU noted that young people were also less likely to have “emotional attachments to China” and would find it easier to assert their Taiwanese identity.
Future policies
The shift has left the KMT, with older leaders and a platform seen as supportive of unification, on the back foot.
“Whereas in the not so distant past, the party could position itself as the party of political and economic stability, it now often looks out of touch with Taiwanese society,” Rich told Al Jazeera.
This month the party appointed a new leader.
Johnny Chiang, 48, is the youngest person ever to hold the post, but even as the party faces the reality of Taiwan’s generational shift, its traditionalists remain reluctant to change.
Chiang will also need to tread carefully with China.
“If China perceives Chiang as seeking to adjust the fundamental tenets by which the KMT conducts cross-strait relations, in jettisoning the 1992 Consensus, it may seek to sabotage him,” Brian Hioe, an expert on Taiwanese politics and founding editor of New Bloom, a Taiwan-focused cultural and political magazine, told Al Jazeera, referring to the so-called agreement with Beijing that there is only “one China” but with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” is.
While concerns about high property prices – an apartment in Taipei is typically 14.5 times higher than the median annual household income – and the economy might prove fertile ground for the KMT, many young people remain behind the reform-minded Tsai.
“Issues that may have been difficult to pursue earlier, from refugee laws to free trade agreements, are likely on the table,” WKU’s Rich said.
“I also expect that more broadly Tsai and the DPP will be more assertive on responding to China,” he added.
For people, like Chen, that would be a welcome development.
“I believe that Taiwan will become a better country,” Chen said. “As a citizen, I will use my life’s strength to make Taiwan an existence that is sufficient to prove that democracy and freedom are the least lethal, but most effective, weapons against hegemony.”
The New Democrats have declared a federal byelection victory in their Winnipeg stronghold riding of Elmwood—Transcona.
The NDP candidate Leila Dance told supporters in a tearful speech that even though the final results weren’t in, she expected she would see them in Ottawa.
With several polls still to be counted, Conservative candidate Colin Reynolds conceded defeat and told his volunteers that they should be proud of what the Conservatives accomplished in the campaign.
Political watchers had a keen eye on the results to see if the Tories could sway traditionally NDP voters on issues related to labour and affordability.
Meanwhile in the byelection race in the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun the NDP, Liberals and Bloc Québécois remained locked in an extremely tight three-way race as the results trickled in slowly.
The Liberal stronghold riding had a record 91 names on the ballot, and the results aren’t expected until the early hours of the morning.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
VANCOUVER – An incumbent BC United legislative member has reversed her decision not to seek re-election and has announced she’ll run as an Independent in the riding of West Vancouver-Capilano in the upcoming British Columbia election.
Karin Kirkpatrick has been a vocal critic of BC United Leader Kevin Falcon’s decision last month to suspend the party’s campaign and throw support behind the B.C. Conservatives under John Rustad.
Kirkpatrick announced her retirement this year, but said Monday that her decision to re-enter the race comes as a direct result of Falcon’s actions, which would force middle-of-the-road voters to “swing to the left” to the NDP or to move further right to the Conservatives.
“I did hear from a lot of constituents and a lot of people who were emailing me from across B.C. … that they didn’t have anybody to vote for,” she said. “And so, I looked even at myself, and I looked at my riding, and I said, ‘Well, I no longer have anybody to vote for in my own riding.’ It was clearly an issue of this missing middle for the more moderate voter.”
She said voters who reached out “don’t want to vote for an NDP government but felt deeply uncomfortable” supporting the provincial Conservatives, citing Rustad’s tolerance of what she calls “extreme views and conspiracy theorists.”
Kirkpatrick joins four other incumbent Opposition MLAs running as Independents, including Peace River South’s Mike Bernier, Peace River North’s Dan Davies, Prince George-Cariboo’s Coralee Oakes and Tom Shypitka in Kootenay-Rockies.
“To be honest, we talk just about every day,” Kirkpatrick said about her fellow BC United incumbents now running as Independents. “We’re all feeling the same way. We all need to kind of hold each other up and make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
She added that a number of first-time candidates formerly on the BC United ticket are contacting the group of incumbents running for election, and the group is working together “as good moderates who respect each other and lift each other up.”
But Kirkpatrick said it’s also too early to talk about the future of BC United or the possibility of forming a new party.
“The first thing we need to do is to get these Independent MLAs elected into the legislature,” she said, noting a strong group could play a power-broker role if a minority government is elected. “Once we’re there then we’re all going to come together and we’re going to figure out, is there something left in BC United, BC Liberals that we can resurrect, or do we need to start a new party that’s in the centre?”
She said there’s a big gap left in the political spectrum in the province.
“So, we just have to do it in a mindful way, to make sure it’s representing the broadest base of people in B.C.”
Among the supporters at Kirkpatrick’s announcement Monday was former longtime MLA Ralph Sultan, who held West Vancouver-Capilano for almost two decades before retiring in 2020.
The Metro Vancouver riding has been a stronghold for the BC Liberals — the former BC United — since its formation in 1991, with more than half of the votes going to the centre-right party in every contest.
However, Kirkpatrick’s winning margin of 53.6 per cent to the NDP’s 30.1 per cent and the Green’s 15.4 per cent in the 2020 election shows a rising trend for left-leaning voters in the district.
Mike McDonald, chief strategy officer with Kirk and Co. Consulting, and a former campaign director for the BC Liberals and chief of staff under former Premier Christy Clark, said Independent candidates historically face an uphill battle and the biggest impact may be splitting votes in areas where the NDP could emerge victorious.
“It really comes down to, if the NDP are in a position to get 33 per cent of the vote, they might have a chance of winning,” McDonald said of the impact of an Independent vote-split with the Conservatives in certain ridings.
He said B.C. history shows it’s very hard for an Independent to win an election and has been done only a handful of times.
“So, the odds do not favour Independents winning the seats unless there is a very unique combination of circumstances, and more likely that they play a role as a spoiler, frankly.”
The B.C. Conservatives list West Vancouver School District Trustee Lynne Block as its candidate in West Vancouver-Capilano, while the BC NDP is represented by health care professional Sara Eftekhar.
Kirkpatrick said she is confident that her re-entry to the race will not result in a vote split that allows the NDP to win the seat because the party has always had a poor showing in the riding.
“So, even if there is competition between myself and the Conservative candidate, it is highly unlikely that anything would swing over to the NDP here. And I believe that I have the ability to actually attract those NDP voters to me, as well as the Conservatives and Liberals who are feeling just lost right now.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Egypt on Tuesday for his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago, this one aimed partly at refining a proposal to present to Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire deal and release of hostages.
Unlike in recent mediating missions, America’s top diplomat this time is traveling without optimistic projections from the Biden administration of an expected breakthrough in the troubled negotiations.
Also unlike the earlier missions, Blinken has no public plans to go to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on this trip. The Israeli leader’s fiery public statements — like his declaration that Israel would accept only “total victory” when Blinken was in the region in June — and some other unbudgeable demands have complicated earlier diplomacy.
Blinken is going to Egypt for talks Wednesday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and others, in a trip billed as focused both on American-Egyptian relations and Gaza consultations with Egypt.
The tamped-down public approach follows months in which President Joe Biden and his officials publicly talked up an agreement to end the war in Gaza as being just within reach, hoping to build pressure on Netanyahu’s far-right government and Hamas to seal a deal.
The Biden administration now says it is working with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar to come up with a revised final proposal to try to at least get Israel and Hamas into a six-week cease-fire that would free some of the hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Americans believe public attention on details of the talks now would only hurt that effort.
American, Qatari and Egyptian officials still are consulting “about what that proposal will contain, and …. we’re trying to see that it’s a proposal that can get the parties to an ultimate agreement,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday.
The State Department pointed to Egypt’s important role in Gaza peace efforts in announcing last week that the Biden administration planned to give the country its full $1.3 billion in military aid, overriding congressional requirements that the U.S. hold back some of the funding if Egypt fails to show adequate progress on human rights. Blinken told Congress that Egypt has made progress on human rights, including in freeing political prisoners.
Blinken’s trip comes amid the risk of a full-on new front in the Middle East, with Israel threatening increasing military action against the Hezbollah militant organization in Lebanon. Biden envoy Amos Hochstein was in Israel on Monday to try to calm tensions after a stop in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has one of the strongest militaries in the Middle East, and like Hamas and smaller groups in Syria and Iraq it is allied with Iran.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged strikes across Israel’s northern border with Lebanon since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas started the war in Gaza. Hezbollah says it will ease those strikes — which have uprooted tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border — only when there’s a cease-fire in Gaza.
Hochstein told Netanyahu and other Israeli officials that intensifying the conflict with Hezbollah would not help get Israelis back in their homes, according to a U.S. official. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks, said Hochstein stressed to Netanyahu that he risked sparking a broad and protracted regional conflict if he moved forward with a full-scale war in Lebanon.
Hochstein also underscored to Israeli officials that the Biden administration remained committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the tensions on Israel’s northern border in conjunction with a Gaza deal or on its own, the official said.
Netanyahu told Hochstein that it would “not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north.” The prime minister said Israel “appreciates and respects” U.S. support but “will do what is necessary to maintain its security and return the residents of the north to their homes safely.”
Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, meanwhile, warned in his meeting with Hochstein that “the only way left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes will be via military action,” his office said.
In Gaza, the U.S. says Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal in principle and that the biggest obstacles now include a disagreement on details of the hostage and prisoner swap and control over a buffer zone on the border between Gaza and Egypt. Netanyahu has demanded in recent weeks that the Israeli military be allowed to keep a presence in the Philadelphi corridor. Egypt and Hamas have rejected that demand.
The Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people. Militants also abducted 250 people and are still holding around 100 hostages. About a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, said Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its count. The war has caused widespread destruction, displaced a majority of Gaza’s people and created a humanitarian crisis.
Netanyahu says he is working to bring home the hostages. His critics accuse him of slow-rolling a deal because it could bring down his hardline coalition government, which includes members opposed to a truce with the Palestinians.
Asked earlier this month if Netanyahu was doing enough for a cease-fire deal, Biden said, simply, “no.” But he added that he still believed a deal was close.
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Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
