Taiwan Presidential Debate 2024 with insights by political analyst Courtney Donovan Smith.
On December 30th there was a debate held between Taiwan’s three presidential candidates Lai Ching-te (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nominee Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the Kuomintang (KMT) nominee and Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) nominee. The three candidates started with eight minutes each to present their candidacy, that was followed by a media question answer session, and then in the second half each candidate had a chance to question each other. I sat down and spoke with political commentator Courtney Donovan Smith who shared his thoughts and observations about the debate.
Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:
- How candidates were doing at the polls at the time of this interview was recorded (December 30, 2023)
- How undecided voters could influence the outcome of the presidential election
- How Courtney calculates the Taiwan News Poll of Polls
- How the presidential candidates performed in the first policy forum in comparison to the presidential debate
- The 60-70% of what was covered during the debate was related to China
- The second issue covered during the debate was properties owned by the three candidates
- Little time was spent on domestic issues like Taiwan’s low birth rate, and energy
- Each candidate’s position on China and how they would handle relations with China
- Hou You-yi, Ko Wen-je and Lai Ching-te’s take on the 1992 Consensus
- How from China’s point of view, the 1992 Consenus includes acceptance of the One China principle
- How Hou You-yi wants to bring back the cross strait services pact
- Courtney’s opinion of the cross strait services pact
- How Ko Wen-je wants to pass the cross strait oversight bill
- During the debate Ko Wen-je claimed that the Sunflower Movement was a protest against black box political dealings and not a protest of the services trade pact, when it in fact was a protest about both black box political dealings and the services trade pact
- Each of the presidential candidate’s position on national defense spending
- Each of the presidential candidate’s position on extending or shortening military service
- The candidate’s policies on housing, death penalty and energy and nuclear power plants in Taiwan
- How Taiwan’s energy reserves are a matter of national security
- If younger voters care more about domestic issues or the China issue
- Courtney’s thoughts on watching Taiwan Plus’ broadcast of the debate with simultaneous English translation
- How Hou You-yi spoke some Taiwanese during the policy forum, debate
- The Kuomintang’s strategy behind picking Jaw— as the vice presidential candidate
- How the KMT put Han Kuo-yu in the number one slot on their party list, which indicated that he is probably their candidate for the legislative speaker
Related Links:
Courtney Donovan Smith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-donovan-smith-7ab5023/
Courtney Donovan Smith on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/donovan_smith
William Lai (Lai Ching-te): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lai_Ching-te
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Progressive_Party
Hou You-yi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hou_Yu-ih
Kuomintang (KMT): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuomintang
Ko Wen-je: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_Wen-je
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_People%27s_Party
Tsai Ing-wen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsai_Ing-wen
Final Taiwan News Poll of Polls, Jan 2: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/5070525
My Formosa: http://my-formosa.com/
Formosa poll: http://my-formosa.com/DOC_202390.htm
Survey Reveals How Alternative Voting Systems Reshape Taiwan 2024 Election Landscape: https://international.thenewslens.com/article/186724
VP Lai expresses his willingness to have dinner and bubble tea with Chinese president Xi Jinping: https://en.rti.org.tw/news/view/id/2009860
Xi Jinping: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping
One China principle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_China#:~:text=The%20One%20China%20principle%20is,an%20inalienable%20part%20of%20China
Cross strait services trade pact: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-Strait_Service_Trade_Agreement
Sunflower Movement: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_Student_Movement
Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050: https://www.ndc.gov.tw/en/Content_List.aspx?n=B154724D8
Peoples Liberation Army: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Army
Taiwan’s opposition to unite on presidential ticket challenging frontrunner: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwans-opposition-parties-decide-joint-presidential-ticket-2023-11-15/
Jaw Shau-kong: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaw_Shaw-kong
New Party: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Party_(Taiwan)
Han Kuo-yu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Kuo-yu
Kuomintang legacies linger from Taiwan’s martial law era: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4819217
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Reliving the Sunflower Movement from Ground Zero: Jiho Chang Tells the Inside Story (Episode 174): https://talkingtaiwan.com/reliving-the-sunflower-movement-from-ground-zero-jiho-chang-tells-the-inside-story-ep-174/
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Hsin-Tai Wu: From Cardiovascular Surgeon to Joining the Taiwan State Building Party (Episode 264): https://talkingtaiwan.com/hsin-tai-wu-from-cardiovascular-surgeon-to-joining-the-taiwan-state-building-party-ep-264/
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