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Taiwan
OpinionComment
Chiu-Ti Jansen
Chiu-Ti Jansen

Is Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen’s solidarity with the Hong Kong protesters just a presidential election ploy?

  • Hong Kong’s protests have changed the fortunes of Tsai Ing-wen and the DPP, putting their opponents in an awkward position
  • But even Tsai must walk a line between gaining politically from the protests and incurring Beijing’s full wrath

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, left, walks past a Taiwan national flag during an offshore anti-terrorism drill outside Taipei harbor in New Taipei City, on August 15. Tsai has been vocal in her support of the demonstrations in Hong Kong against China’s deepening encroachment. Photo: AP
Chiu-Ti Jansen

Hong Kong’s protests have decisively reversed Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s fortunes ahead of the January election. According to a study by pro-independence publication My Formosa, between February and August, Tsai’s support climbed from 27.3 per cent to 52.1 per cent, while Han Kuo-yu, representing the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang, declined from 51.8 per cent to 33.4 per cent.

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Over the same period, approval for Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party has surged from 26.3 per cent to 40.6 per cent, while the KMT’s has dropped from 34.8 per cent to 29.5 per cent.

The DPP appears to have emerged unscathed from a cigarette-smuggling scandal, even though it cost the jobs of the National Security Bureau director general and several of the president’s security details.

Tsai has vocally supported the demonstrations against China’s deepening encroachment in Hong Kong, raising the spectre of “Hong Kong today and Taiwan tomorrow”. After 1 million Hongkongers marched on June 9, Tsai trumpeted that “one country, two systems” would never be an option for Taiwan.

Yet, in the eyes of KMT chairman Wu Den-yih, comparing self-ruled Taiwan to Hong Kong is false because, unlike Hong Kong, the island is a “sovereign and independent state”. At a recent rally in New Taipei, Han denounced the DPP’s rhetoric as “nonsense”, saying that while he supports Hongkongers’ pursuit of democracy and freedom, he does not agree with “exploiting Hong Kong’s plight”.

So, is the DPP’s solidarity with the Hong Kong protesters only an election ploy? How far would Tsai go to support them?

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