Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ying-wen (蔡英文) (1956–) is a centre-left Taiwanese nationalist[note 1] and liberal politician in Taiwan and the current president of the Republic of China. She is also the first female president in Taiwan's history. Her nickname is "Angela Merkel of Asia".[1] She is the only leader of a democratic government among the major Chinese cultural sphere countries.[note 2]
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Political position
Diplomatic position
While drawing a line from the theory of 'Taiwan independence', which is claimed by radical leftists in Taiwan, she aims for Taiwanese nationalism based on "Taiwanese identity," which is somewhat separated from "Chinese identity," and takes a pro-American and pro-Western diplomatic stand. But Tsai also said a Declaration of Independence was unnecessary because Taiwan is already an independent country. This means that they will emphasize "Taiwanese identity" while not giving up on "Chinese identity" and the national name of the Republic of China.[2][note 3]
She is also actively supporting Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.[3]
Social and cultural position
She is pushing for an anti-nuclear policy, because which some politicians on the conservative Kuomintang side accuse her of populism.[4]
Tsai Ing-wen's government legalized same-sex marriage in 2019. In many ways, she is showing interest in promoting women's rights in Taiwan and LGBT rights.
See also
- Social liberalism
- Identity politics
- Democratic Progressive Party
Notes
- In Taiwan, the right has a tendency to lean towards Chinese nationalism, and the left has a tendency to lean towards Taiwanese nationalism. This has continued to this day as the right-wing dictatorship, the KMT, showed a tendency toward "Chinese nationalism", and pro-democracy activists sought "Taiwan nationalism" separate from "Chinese nationalism".
- The leaders of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore are undemocratic.
- Taiwan's liberals and leftists usually advocate "Taiwanese identity" separate from "Chinese identity," and often show a Taiwanese nationalist tendency. Especially in Taiwan, the closer one is to the far left, the more anti-imperialistic one is in the stand advocating "Taiwan independence," so unlike the anti-Western far-left forces in other regions, it shows an anti-Chinese and pro-Western tendency at the same time. It also generally suggests that within Taiwan, independentist give up its own national name, "Republic of China" and change it to "Republic of Taiwan," and argues that as a fully Taiwanese nationalist independent country, all the economy, politics, society and culture related to China should be abandoned. Tsai Ing-wen is distancing herself from these radical arguments.