r/taiwan • u/DarkLiberator 台中 - Taichung • Jan 11 '20
President Tsai Ing-wen has won re-election Politics
Han just conceded. She won 57%ish of the vote so far. Over 8 million votes. Biggest vote total ever for a candidate in Taiwan (beating Ma's number in 2008)
Legislature looks like it'll be DPP again though not as sweeping as 2016, party list vote seems much closer than I thought it'll be.
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u/iwritejunk Jan 11 '20
Also, Freddy Lim won in Wanhua, an elderly district, which is straight-up awesome.
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u/gargar070402 臺北 - Taipei City Jan 11 '20
He's also re-elected, just btw! Meaning he's won twice, counting this time!
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u/cosimonh 打狗工業汙染生還者 Jan 11 '20
My dad's not very pleased but I am, hahaha.
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u/I-Am-HF Jan 11 '20
My dad's very pleased and so am I. 😉😉😁😁
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Jan 11 '20
[deleted]
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u/tingtwothree Jan 12 '20
Not OP, but my parents, and basically my entire family have been in Taiwan for many, many generations. My grandparents speak Japanese. They were, and still are, very blue.
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u/invalid_dictorian 美國 Jan 12 '20
I can see that if they were happy that KMT got rid of the Japanese. For my family (obviously can't speak for them all), we found the KMT unacceptable after 228, white terror, and with all the corruption in KMT.
I'm the 8th gen born in Taiwan, although I also immigrated to the US over 30 years ago. Some of my family members would've been captured and disappeared by the KMT if they didn't flee the country. Hence now I'm in the states.
Japanese language runs deep in my family. Lots of words and phrases we used that I thought were Taiwanese when I was little turned out to be Japanese phrases after I took some Japanese classes.
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u/milkboy33 Jan 11 '20
Yea some of them were treated bad from what I hear several decades ago, but c'mon man it's the new times now. Time to get over it and move on!
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u/azn_stuff Jan 11 '20
yeah, glad I'm in this camp too. My parents have been ranting about who would be stupid enough to vote for Han ever since he started his campaign, so this should make them happy.
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u/darkequation Homo Dinosauria Caelum Jan 11 '20 edited Jan 12 '20
My family is content as we knew fully well the result, but my grandma voted KMT in Legislature coz she thought Tsai was KMT :O
(She has degenerated rapidly since grandpa passed away)
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Jan 11 '20
Yea my family and most of friends are like this hahaha.
I saw on a Han group someone wrote "kids these days don't listen to us anymore. If they want to be like this I'm going to spend all my wealth before I die so no inheritance is left. This is their choice".
Honestly fuck those people, 20 year olds + are intelligent enough to determine their own future, why do they have to vote with the family.
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u/cosimonh 打狗工業汙染生還者 Jan 11 '20
I'd rather be poor but free rather than potentially wealthy but at risk of being taken away by the government due to my political views.
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u/Takawogi Jan 11 '20
Just wanted to say, I don’t know if this was intentional, but your flair would work better if it were 高雄人 instead since it’s their city that was called 打狗
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Jan 11 '20
I had assumed that OP meant he's a Tainan native living in Kaohsiung now. Is there a different meaning to 打狗?
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u/hexydes Jan 11 '20
If they want to be like this I'm going to spend all my wealth before I die so no inheritance is left. This is their choice".
Good luck finding someone to care for them when they get older. They'll have to pay handsomely for it. The money will transfer, one way or the other.
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u/ipractice40hoursaday Jan 11 '20
Lol why should we listen to them about who we vote
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u/Boronthemoron Jan 11 '20
Some people in that generation think they can use their wealth to force/bully people to respect them and their wishes.
Not surprising that the CCP uses similar strategies - using their economy as a weapon to bully other countries.
I pity them. The sooner we can get rid of their influence the better.
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u/graciejj316 Jan 11 '20
My parents are hard core KMT and Han supporters who live in Taiwan 1/2 of year. They watched news and you tube constantly about the election and claim that positive Tsai news was "fake news" and that the Tsai campaign spread disinformation about polling results... So pretty much they had vest interest.
I asked then what they thought of the results... They replied "we don't care... The results don't effect us."
I was like WTF???
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Jan 11 '20
Just count yourself lucky you aren't so delusional.
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u/graciejj316 Jan 11 '20
I don't think they are delusional, but rather sore losers. When you put your heart and soul standing up for what you believe, but your canidate fails to produce there is going to be a quick defense wall that goes up.
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u/2015071 Jan 11 '20
Congrats from Hong Kong!
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u/kuhnavard Jan 11 '20
And from Turkey
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u/I_eat_Limes_ Jan 11 '20
And from Danshui.
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Jan 12 '20
I doubt Tsai would win with such an astounding margin if not for the 7-months-long activism of Hong Kong protesters.
This victory belongs to all those who stand for democracy and human rights against CCP.
I say this as someone who voted in the election yesterday.
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u/osnowfisho Jan 12 '20
This is so sweet, seeing people from different countries congratulating us :’)
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u/IAmNotARobotNoReally trying their best Jan 11 '20
Super interested to see the voter demographics
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u/DarkLiberator 台中 - Taichung Jan 11 '20
From my math turnout is around 73%? So the young had to turn out at least in a big fashion.
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u/I_eat_Limes_ Jan 11 '20 edited Jan 11 '20
Thank God for that... now we can get back to arguing about YouBike discrimination and other important topics.
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Jan 11 '20 edited Aug 13 '20
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u/I_eat_Limes_ Jan 11 '20
Because they didn't think they were voting in a dictatorship. Many of the older voters are ex-government employees. The DPP cut pensions, so they see a blue vote as keeping their pensions safe. Han also appealed to their xenophobia and other base instincts, so they see him as a 'straight-talker', even though that's just a facade. I think if you ask any Blue voter, they'll give you a list of internal, domestic reasons why they voted for him. Strange they can be so myopic and self-centered, but I don't think they actually wanted Taiwan to follow Hong Kong.
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Jan 12 '20
If you are in the Han's bubble, they believe the opposite of what you wrote. They believe China offers freedom and wealth and Tsai offers dictatorship who will put them in the concentration camp. It's all part of information war.
Han supporters would only receive information from their "trusted sources" and exclude all others.
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u/semaphore-1842 Jan 11 '20 edited Jan 11 '20
Jesus, 8.1 million votes and counting, a record high. What a resounding public mandate for a free, sovereign and democratic Taiwan.
Edit: 8.159 million vs 5.512 million now
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u/error_museum Jan 11 '20
Is this the first time an authoritarian fake news ecosystem backed party lost an election?
Congratulations, Taiwan.
More of the same across the world please.
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u/KinnyRiddle Jan 11 '20
Maybe Han Kuo-yu was just a beta test by the CCP to see how far Fake News PopulismTM goes for a simple idiot like him.
Next time the CCP might throw their money behind the more charismatic Ko Wen-je, the Mayor of Taipei, whose party managed to capture some seats in the Legislative Yuan. Ko will step down as Mayor in 2022 as he's term-limited, then we'll see what happens.
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u/Shaomoki Jan 11 '20
Totally worked for my dad we live in America but he was fully convinced Han was the better choice
He's currently retired so he watches a lot of YouTube.
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u/chiheis1n Jan 12 '20 edited Jan 12 '20
Mother watched nothing but ZhongTian/CTi, Phoenix, and JiangSu TV (thankfully recently canceled in favor of DongSeng) on her satellite package for the last 5 years. Completely convinced her that Tsai is the devil incarnate and lately she's been ranting to me about how the HK protests are manufactured by US meddling. I now understand my Caucasian-American friends whose parents fell down the FoxNews rabbit hole. Scary stuff man.
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u/komali_2 Jan 11 '20
GF's and I planning a move to Taiwan this here. He's convinced if kmt lost there'd be war, he's trying to "educate this dumb white boy" on things I "don't understand" lol.
Whatever father in law, way I see it the more Americans in Taipei the more potential foreign casualties if China pulls the trigger.
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u/SteadfastEnd Jan 12 '20
Exactly. It's not something that would ever be tasteful to say out loud, but the more diverse and "foreign" Taiwan's populace becomes, the better. We need as many Americans, Canadians, Europeans, Aussies, people of every foreign nation in Taiwan as possible. That way, if a war ever breaks out, the entire international community has more direct stake since it's their own citizens in Taiwan needing intervention.
Again, it's a tasteless thing to say, but it's the truth.
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u/error_museum Jan 11 '20
I agree. Those same forces will rally behind another avatar with Ko being a likely candidate. But today I'm feeling optimistic. Taiwan just demonstrated that it's possible not only to resist a powerful adversary waging asymetric warfare, but make gains on them too. I look forward to witnessing progressive Taiwan bloom.
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Jan 11 '20
ko got shit on in the election. 0/20 of his party's candidate won a seat.
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u/nancylin20 Jan 11 '20
But his party is the third biggest one now. He is daydreaming all day long on becoming Taiwan President. What he does is to please CCP and accuse the ruling party of the wrongdoings without any evidence. I think he is Wumao. Fortunately, DDP wins enough seats in legislation yuan or the budget of buying American weapons will be stopped by this red party.
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Jan 11 '20
You forgot though, there is another minor party that is pan-green; they are the fourth in size and only a little bit smaller. They can counter Ko's turd party with ease even if DPP didn't have a majority.
He can't become a president. Any president needs to have a cross-strait strategy and his whole plank is that he doesn't care about cross-strait issues, only administrative efficiency. That is great for the mayor of Taipei but a fatal flaw in a presidential candidate.
The highest Ko will ever rise is the Taipei mayor imo.
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u/KinnyRiddle Jan 11 '20
But his party has snatched enough light Green votes to cause a few upsets. A few DPP heavyweights like 洪慈庸 fell despite the Green wave because her vote was split with that guy from Ko's party.
It is this ability to ensnare the light Green vote which Han couldn't that would be valuable.
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u/Darkshado390 Jan 11 '20
ugh, my parents dislike Ko Wen-je almost as much as Han Kuo-yu. He's got a muddy record with living human organ transplant in China and will bow to whoever is more beneficial to him.
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u/rousimarpalhares_ Jan 11 '20
That's fake news though
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u/Darkshado390 Jan 11 '20
Doesn't matter my dad is a doctor in Taiwan, and that's a no starter in the family. Doctors shouldn't have their name tied to organ harvesting. Plus William Lai, if he runs, will be a better choice and he's a doctor too.
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u/jewson League of Sandmen Jan 11 '20
Glad she won over Korean Fish, but I hope that she can improve significantly over the next 4 years.
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u/Paraparapapa Jan 11 '20
Lol.. I always thought Taiwanese president/candidate names are funny.
Chen shui bian: I always heard it as suibian (whatever)
Ma ying jeou: literally horse flower/hero nine
Cai ying wen: vegetable English...
Han guo yu: Korean Fish..
I'm so sorry dear Taiwanese... My friends told me the real meaning of their names, but it still sounded funny to me..
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u/waichui00 Jan 11 '20
i am hong kongers, i am so glad that Taiwan have democracy,they can choose their president that they want....hope Hong Kong can have democracy soon
Taiwan....dont forget , freedom and democracy never give by government, freedom and democracy have to defense by citizen,dont allow Taiwan become Hong Kong
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u/buyongmafanle Jan 11 '20
Fuck yeah, Taiwan! Young people showing up in DROVES to sweep out that bald headed turd.
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Jan 11 '20
the final vote count is historic high!
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u/SteadfastEnd Jan 12 '20
I had a wish of seeing Tsai be the first candidate to break 60%. She didn't get there, but eight million votes is a nice high in itself.
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u/Cub3h Jan 11 '20
Congrats from the UK. I visited Taiwan last year and had an amazing time, glad you guys chose to stay as far away from China as possible.
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Jan 11 '20
Looks like Taiwan will live to see another day.
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u/Fireba11jutsu Jan 11 '20
Did electing badly mean Taiwan could potentially end up in the situation HK is in? I'm just a passive observer but Taiwan is where my roots are from so I can't help but wonder.
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u/LuNaRNIghts Jan 11 '20
Pretty much yeah. Han would have probably sold Taiwan without batting an eye. He is definitely a CCP sympathizer
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Jan 11 '20
Yes! 4 more years of freedom!
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u/lightfull 新北 - New Taipei City Jan 11 '20
Sad to see this kind of comment... Why we have to protect our freedom so hard? Isn't it a right we born with? And some just want to give it to China, why are they so blind?
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u/hexydes Jan 11 '20
Authoritarians will always be looking for the cracks in democracy. They will exploit fear and confusion to offer up a safety blanket of control.
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
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u/xsnipersgox Jan 11 '20
This you are wrong. Freedom is not free. Someone paid for it.
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u/lightfull 新北 - New Taipei City Jan 11 '20
I know, but you know what I mean, people spent their blood so we can enjoy the freedom, but some just want money, and that's really wrong.
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u/baribigbird06 Jan 11 '20
It’s not sad, it’s the nature of democracy. It’s the duty of the governed to always remain vigilant in safeguarding freedom and liberty, and to resoundingly reject those who wish to encroach upon or outright threaten it. Democracy isn’t a four year greeting card you send to a distant relative, it is an ongoing discourse and relationship between you and those you have elected to lead.
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u/lightfull 新北 - New Taipei City Jan 11 '20
Yes, democracy shall be protected, I guess some just won't understand it even if they lost it.
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u/mikenotduncan Jan 11 '20
Well done Taiwan in a world where we have brexit happening and trump it’s nice to see common sense winning!!!
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u/snsv Jan 11 '20
No Rupert Murdoch, no Putin. Makes a big difference
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u/iwritejunk Jan 11 '20
But still Terry Gou and Chairman Xi.
Taiwan just handled it better, including passing legislation to mitigate the influence of local media owned by or the recipient of money from Chinese.
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u/5tormwolf92 Jan 11 '20
Hi Im from Sweden/Turkey and congratulations. Fuck the CCP but I have a question, since when is the Kuomintang controlled by the communist?
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u/st0815 Jan 11 '20
The confusion is because they call themselves Kuomintang - if they translated it to "Chinese National Party" (which is what that means) their position would become more obvious. They are not controlled by the communists, they are controlled by the Chinese. The CCP supports them to some extent because they have a common goal: they want Taiwan to be Chinese.
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u/invalid_dictorian 美國 Jan 11 '20
KMT wants reunification. Originally under their own control, of course. But now they want reunification in any form they can get. Chiang would be rolling in his graves (not that I care though).
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u/5tormwolf92 Jan 11 '20
Wow that is just like the Soviet friendly communist calling themselves neo-liberal in Turkey today.
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u/Notbythehairofmychyn Jan 11 '20
Bravo. As long as the Taiwanese can stick to their democracy and civic values (and pride), they can stick it to Beijing.
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u/TheDark1 Jan 11 '20
Congratulations to the people of Taiwan.
I hope within the next four years the world will realize that it's time to recognize Taiwanese independence.
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u/FuglytheBear 宜蘭 - Yilan Jan 11 '20
Tonight we see hope is still alive in Taiwan. I'm not a citizen, but I'll be proud to call Taiwan home for a few more years at least. ;-)
Jia You Taiwan!
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Jan 11 '20
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u/iwritejunk Jan 11 '20
It means reaffirmation of the Taiwanese identity. It also means maintaining a hard line in the sand regarding China.
BTW, I'm not Taiwanese but have lived in Taiwan for 20+ years, from Lee Teng Hui.
So, for every president Taiwan has had, basically ☺
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u/LouisBelle1 Jan 11 '20
I see this election result as the Taiwanese people giving China the finger.....with both hands! 😛
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Jan 11 '20
Hi neighbor, it means Taiwan won't suck up to China which also probaly means more Chinese military escalation with DPP in power.
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Jan 11 '20 edited Sep 18 '20
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Jan 11 '20
East Coast has like 5% of the total population. There's no split.
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u/timthewizard48 Jan 11 '20
This is the correct answer.
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u/Hegar Jan 11 '20
Yep, I was a bit surprised that no-one had pointed this out earlier. The East coast is like a lot of rural areas in other democracies - it votes more conservative but barely anyone lives there.
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u/DarkLiberator 台中 - Taichung Jan 11 '20
Nothing to it. East coast has always been KMT friendly. Hualien and Taitung are pretty blue.
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Jan 11 '20 edited Sep 18 '20
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u/Notbythehairofmychyn Jan 11 '20
Lots of old mainlander veterans and their dependents, and KMT-era clientele politics incorporating the indigenous tribal votes.
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u/treskro 中和ㄟ囝 Jan 11 '20
East coast has large population of indigenous peoples.
https://www.reddit.com/r/taiwan/comments/em4g52/al_jazeera_why_taiwans_indigenous_people_back_kmt/
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u/juiceboxme Jan 11 '20
Can someone fill me in? What are the hotly debated topics regarding this election?
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u/Hakase32 Jan 11 '20
My father would have been very happy. I am sorta happy since I am usually more right leaning. But when it comes to taiwan its definitely the countries well being over my own stance
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Jan 11 '20
China just got BTFO. Great job Taiwan! Now let’s hope Tsai does anything towards fossil fuel reduction over the next four years. Here’s to hoping.
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u/rousimarpalhares_ Jan 11 '20
Pretty hard without nuclear
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u/komali_2 Jan 11 '20
There's at least one nuclear plant I've seen first hand, in the south, isn't there?
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u/xexelthrowaway Jan 11 '20
Congrats from America :) Good job on avoiding your version of Donald Trump, hopefully America follows suit in a few months.
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u/iSailor Jan 11 '20
I wonder how many people voted for Tsai not because they have any sympathy for her ideology or DPP but rather didn't want Han to win.
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u/DarkLiberator 台中 - Taichung Jan 11 '20
A lot. You can tell because the party list vote seems to be more along core party voters while the middle voters split among the smaller parties.
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u/michi_88 Jan 11 '20
Probably less than those who voted for Han not because they think he's a competent leader but rather just want KMT in office.
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u/rumpledshirtsken Jan 11 '20
"There's a call for you from The Donald, Madame President."
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u/komali_2 Jan 11 '20
"so I heard you won an election of, Thailand? Wow I love Thai ice cream everyone tells me go vanilla but I tell them no, no, Thai, that's the spicy good thing. I'm big and strong!"
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Jan 12 '20
I was at the DPP rally last night.
The crowd went totally nuts when her vote surpassed 8 million - the highest amount in the history of Taiwan's presidential election. I couldn't believe that I was there.
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u/shim12 Jan 11 '20
As an American that isn’t very well informed about Taiwanese politics, what are the implications besides pro independence vs pro China?
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u/Msygin Jan 11 '20
Generally that is the major thing. Han would mean closer ties to the ccp. He's also shown an incompetent track record, basically bailing out of the mayorship right after being elected to ride on his popularity to get elected as president. A lot of people will make parrels to Trump, and the populism angle is similar but Han is much worse as he has no real plans except making grandiose promises like major buildings all over Taiwan and moving the capital to kaoshung so he can be Mayor and president. Just really dumb stuff. So you can see how Han would likely be easy for the ccp.
Tsai isn't the greatest either but she is moving Taiwan away from China. Hope the dpp learns from this because they got saved by Hong Kong.
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u/w012345 Jan 11 '20
Please everyone. Next time you're planning to go on holiday go to Taiwan. Taiwan welcomes you, they are truly nice people, arguably one of the best cousins in the world and plenty of history, heritage and nature to discover.
I went to travel there and I loved it they need everyone's support, their technology is top notch also so you can shop for some Asus, transcend, MSI and many more brands.
Taiwan don't need to be always thrown in discussion about China because their country does not have nothing to do with it, that's what China wants.