ABSTRACT

This book offers a substantive assessment of the first Tsai Ing-wen administration, investigating different policy fields and issues from 2016 to 2020, prior to Tsai’s election for a second term. 

Providing a balanced account of government performance under Tsai’s Ing-wen’s reign, chapters in this edited volume combine theory and extensive empirical data to highlight both achievements and shortfalls of her administration. Chapters range comprehensively from topics of the implementation of same-sex marriage, curriculum reform, ‘transitional justice’, industrial policy and pension reform, which have been celebrated by domestic Tsai Ing-wen supporters, but have also met with considerable opposition from within Taiwanese society. Externally, cross-strait relations, the New Southbound Policy and the triangular relationship with China and the USA, which embodied major challenges for Tsai’s first administration, are also analysed as key reference points throughout.

Featuring contributions from twenty six internationally renowned Taiwan scholars, Taiwan During the First Administration of Tsai Ing-wen is an essential resource for students and scholars of Taiwanese politics and society, cross-strait relations and international relations.

chapter 1|15 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|31 pages

Situating Tsai Ing-wen's first term

Three decades of presidential discourse in Taiwan

chapter 4|28 pages

Liang'an vs. kua'an

The two dimensions of Taiwan-China ­relations during the first Tsai administration

chapter 5|30 pages

Decoding the cyber strait

Taiwan's responses to the Chinese cyber threat under Tsai Ing-wen

chapter 7|25 pages

The war of referenda in 2018

Analysing the interaction between social movements and political parties

chapter 10|25 pages

A noble dream undelivered

The quest for transitional justice during Tsai Ing-wen's first term

chapter 11|20 pages

‘It's not marriage!’

Framing and mobilising in the anti-same-sex marriage movement

chapter 12|29 pages

Productivity, cohesion and dignity

The contestation of migration policy under the first Tsai Ing-wen administration

chapter 13|20 pages

Assessing the first years of Taiwan's New Southbound Policy

The case of Vietnam 1

chapter 14|25 pages

Stronger than ever?

US-Taiwan relations during the first Tsai administration

chapter 15|19 pages

Taiwan, Japan and the European Union under the Tsai administration's New Southbound Policy

Viable alternatives? Republic of China

chapter 16|26 pages

Trilateral humanitarian aid

Continuities and changes in Taiwan's aid policy before and during the first administration of Tsai Ing-wen