Taiwan election on January 11: Don’t forget the parliament seats!
While much of the international press covering the January 11 Taiwan elections has focused on the presidential race between incumbent Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文 Cài Yīngwén) and primary challenger Han Kuo-yu (韓国瑜 Hán Guóyú), the outcome of the legislative elections — to be held on the same day — could impact foreign relations, ties with mainland China, and social issues, including the rights of same-sex married couples. Every seat in the unicameral Legislative Yuan, 113 total, is up for grabs. Read more about this on The China Project, the first of a series of articles we’ll publish this week concerning Saturday’s elections.
Another recommended piece to read about the upcoming Taiwan elections is in the New York Times: Awash in disinformation before vote, Taiwan points finger at China. An excerpt:
As Taiwan gears up for a major election this week, officials and researchers worry that China is experimenting with social media manipulation to sway the vote. Doing so would be easy, they fear, in the island’s rowdy democracy, where the news cycle is fast and voters are already awash in false or highly partisan information.
—Anthony Tao
