Taiwan's 2024 Presidential Election is likely to have profound implications for Taiwan itself and the entire world. It's a race between the China-skeptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) versus the China-friendly opposition parties of the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP). The election outcome will likely set the frame of reference for how authoritarian China, who claim Taiwan as their sovereign territory, will advance their expansionist agenda in the future.
As the world's 16th largest trading economy and supplier of 90% of advanced semiconductors, a blockade on Taiwan by the Chinese Communist Party (CPP) would have significant impact on global trade, never mind the effects of a potential conflict in the region.
In this, the first episode of our series on Taiwan's 2024 Election, I'm delighted to welcome back Courtney Donovan Smith (@donovan_smith). He's a regular contributing columnist for Taiwan News as well as the Central Taiwan correspondent for ICRT FM Radio and a Political Analyst at the Taiwan Report. We first spoke to Donovan back in March about a number of topics, including the upcoming election in our episode entitled Visits and Vanishing Acts.
I sat down with Donovan in early November in Taichung in advance of the November 24th election registration deadline to review the leading presidential candidate line-up and hear his insights on their policies and polling performance.
Date of Recording: November 13th, 2023.
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| Taiwan Election 2024 - Leading Candidate Line-up |
DIVE DEEPER:
Additional Information and references on the topics covered in this episode:
- Courtney Donovan Smith - 100 Passionate People
- Taiwan Report - link
- Taiwan News Poll of Polls, Nov 25th - Courtney Donovan Smith, Taiwan News (November 26th, 2023)
- Foxconn's Terry Gou bows out of Taiwan presidential race - Keoni Everington, Taiwan News (November 24th, 2023)
- Taiwan's opposition KMT, TPP regroup as they try to defeat DPP: Analysts - Focus Taiwan (November 24th, 2023)
- China unveils 'special' measures to boost Taiwan's access to costal Fujian - Aljazeera (September 14th, 2023)
- Presidential hopeful Lai says Taiwan's sovereignty is 'a fact' - Aljazeera (August 25th, 2023)
- China favors Ko over Hou for Taiwan president: Bonnie Glaser - Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News (May 26th, 2023)
- Xu Chunying denies claim she was a CCP member - Taipei Times (November 7th, 2023)
- Apple iPhone maker Foxconn being investigated in China as founder runs for Taiwan presidency - Laura He, CNN (October 23rd, 2023)
- PRC Election Interference Targeting Taiwan's 2024 Elections Tests the Anti-Infiltration Act - Global Taiwan Institute (May 3rd, 2023)
- Inciting anxiety about the looming war - the disinformation narratives about the possible Taiwan Strait crisis during the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election - Wei-Ping Li, Taiwan Fact Check Center (November 27th, 2023)
- 1992 Consensus - link
- Chinese Expansionism - link
