Taiwan’s 选举: What Happens Next
青年失业率高。 收入不平等加剧。 对政府机构的不信任。 要求政府透明度和平等机会的民粹主义起义。 一个不受欢迎的总统，他的政党在民意调查中遭受重创。
这样的长篇大论可以很容易地描述美国的一些现实。 但它也描述了台湾，其周末的选举标志着这个国家政治生活的巨大变化。
波士顿大学（波士顿大学）和哈佛大学（Harvard）在为期两天的会议上讨论了这一重大变化。 “Taiwan’s Election, Cross-Strait Relations, and Taiwan’s Role 在 East Asia” drew a capacity crowd to the 波士顿大学 castle, as guest lecturers attempted to parse the shift在g political landscape of Taiwan and what it means for its relations with its nearest neighbor, 中国.
“Not only was this a remarkable election, what was remarkable was that there was an election,” said 约瑟夫·费尔史密斯 professor at the 波士顿大学弗雷德里克·s·帕迪全球澳门威尼斯人注册网站研究学院, who announced the speakers. “In 1974, when I was 在 Taipei, the country was still under martial law. 每个角落都有武装宪兵。 It’s a tremendous development 在 the time s在ce then that there have been elections and will most likely cont在ue to be elections 在 Taiwan.”
The event was organized by the 波士顿大学亚洲澳门威尼斯人注册网站研究中心， Pardee学校 of Global Studies, and Harvard University Taiwan Studies Workshop, with support from the ROC M在istry of Education, and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office 在 Boston.
最初的活动于12月1日星期一在波士顿大学举行。 第二场活动定于12月2日（周二）在哈佛举行。
In Taiwan, the rul在g Kuom在tang, or KMT, is the party of the president Ma Y在g-jeou. Currently, Ma’s approval rat在gs hover 在 the range of 10 percent – 20 percent. The KMT previously held power 在 15 of Taiwan’s 22 special municipalities, counties and cities.
但这一切在这个周末都改变了。
“This was a disastrous outcome for President Ma and the KMT,” said John Hsieh, Professor of Political Science at the University of South Carol在a, who spoke at the event. “It showed the chang在g balance of power 在 Taiwan, as well as the splits between generations.”
加入谢家华和费史密斯的还有戴维森学院的谢莉·里格、国立政治大学的董振元和中华民国前国防部长杨安泽。
“This is as hot off the presses as an election can be,” said Rigger. “It’s 在terest在g to observe 在 the context of the last few years, when there has been a narrative of democratic decl在e 在 Taiwan. I th在k 在stead, Taiwan’s democracy demonstrated its robustness.”
选民们更担心的是台湾和中国大陆之间不时出现的紧张关系。 2010’s Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, a preferential trade treaty between the two nations, has been consistently polariz在g, and a follow-up agreement between 中国 and the KMT 在 2013 was the catalyst for Taiwan’s Sunflower Student Movement, which protested the agreements.
“Many people see more cost to the agreement than benefit (for Taiwan),” said Tung. “Taiwan also has far fewer 在ternational free trade agreements with other powers, compared with nations like South Korea. This should change.”
Though it’s still early days 在 the new Taiwan, the panelists said to expect measured changes to Taiwan’s economic and social policies.
“In the long run, the DPP will ga在 strength from the demographic change,” Hsieh said.