Taiwan Election 2024: A Three-Way Race for the Presidency

Taiwan Election 2024: A Three-Way Race for the Presidency

Taiwan, the self-governing island comprised of 24 million people, votes today, January 13th 2024, for a new president and legislature. The result will set Taiwan's course regarding containment efforts against Chinese dominance and security threats as well as its continuing relations pitting China and the United States. Taiwan has ruled separately from mainland China since 1949 when the vanquished Nationalist forces fled to the island after losing the civil war against the Communists. China considers Taiwan a rebel province that needs to be brought back into the fold one day by force of arms if necessary. For its part, Taiwan has developed its own democratic system, own identity and culture over those decades, and the majority Taiwanese do not want or support the possibility of re-unification with China. On the line for the Taiwanese electorate hangs the central dispute over how to deal with an increasingly aggressive and even belligerent China whose much greater military, diplomatic,…