The global stakes of Taiwan’s election
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 January 2024
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Voters across Taiwan head to the polls Saturday in an election that could reverberate around the world. As pressure tactics increase from Beijing, the island of 23 million faces existential questions about how to preserve its identity and fend off war.
With Beijing military planes at times looming, Taiwan’s ruling party’s candidate, Lai Ching-te, contends democracy itself is on the ballot this weekend. Opposition candidate Hou Yu-ih warns that voters face a choice between war and peace. And a new third party candidate, Ko Wen-je, has been drawing a younger, anti-establishment base.
Today, “Post Reports” speaks with Christian Shepherd, based in Taipei, about Taiwan’s unusual three-party presidential race, and how it could shape regional and international security in the years to come.
Read more:
The Taiwan party toughest on China has a strong lead as election nears
4 ways China is trying to interfere in Taiwan’s presidential election
These three men are vying to lead Taiwan — and fend off threats from China
2024 brings wave of elections with global democracy on the ballot
How Chinese aggression is increasing the risk of war in the Taiwan Strait
Today’s show was produced by Elana Gordon and guest hosted by Arjun Singh. It was mixed by Sam Bair and edited by Monica Campbell, with help from Lucy Perkins. Thanks to Vic Chiang, Pei-Lin Wu and Anna Fifield.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's 2024, |
| 0:03.0 | an election taking place. |
| 0:06.0 | In just a few days, voters in Iowa and the New Hampshire |
| 0:09.4 | will start casting their votes for their presidential picks. We'll be talking with the post political |
| 0:14.2 | reporters tomorrow on post reports about how this is all playing out. But |
| 0:18.7 | 2024 is a big election year, not just in the United States. |
| 0:23.2 | There's Mexico's presidential race. |
| 0:28.2 | It's a historic first for Mexico, two women at the forefront of the country's presidential primaries. |
| 0:35.0 | In India's. |
| 0:42.0 | 2024 is going to be a very, very important year for India as it goes to polls and Prime Minister |
| 0:48.8 | Norendramudi is vying for a third term. |
| 0:51.6 | There's elections across the European Union. |
| 0:54.3 | More than 400 million people across the EU will get to choose a new parliament for a |
| 0:59.6 | five-year term. There's no shortage of critical issues to vote on from the green |
| 1:03.7 | transition, inflation and energy prices to migrants and borders. Roughly half the |
| 1:10.0 | world's population could be heading to the voting booth this year. And for many places |
| 1:14.5 | democracy itself is on the ballot, like this Saturday in Taiwan. |
| 1:20.3 | Regardless of which party you ask, these elections are a pretty big deal. |
| 1:26.0 | Christian Shepard is a correspondent for the Washington Post. |
| 1:30.0 | He's based in Taiwan and has been covering the upcoming election. |
| 1:34.0 | The two parties have really both framed it as being a big turning point for Taiwan. |
| 1:41.0 | You know, you have one party, the incumbents saying this is a choice between |
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