TAIWAN: Taiwan people’s dream of better livelihoods and their aspiration to communicate with the Chinese mainland after three years of COVID-19 will prominently figure during the region’s leadership election in 2024, experts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait said.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s war rhetoric with emphasis on confronting the mainland is gradually running out of steam, as people’s dissatisfaction over the DPP’s seven-year governance is increasing, they said.
A recent survey conducted by the NGO Foundation for the People has revealed that Taiwan’s residents are disillusioned with local Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen’s performance and the DPP administration’s reluctance to address important issues such as the income gap, affordable housing and unemployment.
The opinion poll, which coincided with the seventh anniversary of Tsai taking office in May 2016, showed that 73.9 percent of respondents are unhappy with the administration’s approach toward narrowing the income gap.
According to pro-reunification political parties in Taiwan, the DPP’s poor performance has triggered economic hardships and livelihood challenges in the region, and has worsened cross-Strait relations.
The high cost of living, coupled with low wages and long working hours, has caused significant hardships, the parties said in a statement earlier this month. There are doubts, dissatisfaction and anxiety in the island society over the DPP’s collusion with the United States to fuel conflicts, the statement said.
With Taiwan’s leadership election scheduled in January, the pro-reunification parties have called on opposition candidates to reject the “Taiwan independence” agenda and resonate with public opinion to protect Taiwan from conflicts.
According to another poll conducted on May 15 by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, more than 50 percent of respondents do not want the DPP to remain in power. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
