As two women slog it out to be Taiwan’s first female president, Sophy Ridge explains why this battle makes the country’s imposing neighbour look dreadfully out of date
12:26PM BST 21 Jul 2015
Throughout its history the little island has been squashed and shaped by the closest super-power, China.
Beijing continues to claim sovereignty over Taiwan and seems to view it as a renegade sibling that will inevitably be subsumed. If Taiwan should at some point officially declare independence, China has refused to rule out military intervention.
Despite that, since 1996 the plucky Taiwanese have been electing their own leaders. Election turnout is consistently around 75 per cent. Here, democracy really matters.
This year the Taiwanese are preparing to use their votes to do something extraordinary.
No matter who wins, the next president is almost certain to be a woman.
The election is a two horse race between the ruling Kuomintang party (KMT) and the opposition Democratic Progression Party (DPP). Both have nominated women candidates.
In KMT’s corner, meet 67-year-old Hung Hsiu-chu – aka “Little Hot Pepper”. The deputy legislative speaker is known for her fiery style and straight-talking. Hung’s father was imprisoned for three and a half years, accused of Communist sympathies during the period of political repression in the 1940s known as the “White Terror.” Even after his release, he couldn’t find work and the family struggled to make ends meet. Hung worked as a secondary school teacher before entering parliament in 1990.
Her opponent is 59-year-old Tsai Ing-wen – chairwoman of the DPP – who according to opinion polls is on course to win. Brought up in a wealthy business family, Tsai has a polite, reserved manner and several government positions under her belt. Before entering politics, she studied at Cornell University and the London School of Economics and enjoyed a successful career as a professor of law.
Both women believe history is being made.
Hung told reporters: “I hope this battle between two women will bring forth a whole new understanding and set an example of true democracy.”
Tsai was even more positive about progress: “Gender used to be a barrier of some sort for a woman to overcome when they wanted to be in politics. Today in Taiwan, the situation is somewhat different.
“Of course, there are some people in Taiwan who are still rather traditional and have some hesitation to consider a woman leader. But I think the young people are generally excited about the idea of having a woman to leader the country. They think it is rather trendy.”
Reverse ageism
Interestingly, their age may have something to do with it.
Younger women struggle to advance in Taiwan, but unlike in Western societies, doors open as they grow older. Social analysts believe the leadership of women over 50 is accepted because they traditionally ran clans in China.
Joanna Lei, CEO of the Chunghua 21st Century Think Tank in Taiwan explains: “I think Taiwan is better prepared for female leadership than even the US. We’ve had a long matriarchic tradition. In ancient days when they reached their 50s and 60s, women became the senior people, often the commanding power of their clan and family. Female leadership is not alien to Asian culture.”
The age of the two women may open doors… but only to a point.
Taiwain has been democratic since the late 1980s, yet voters have never elected a female president before.
Across Asia, it’s rare to see a woman in power without a leg-up from a male relative (it’s not just Hillary Clinton benefitting from being part of a political dynasty.) South Korea’s Park Geun-hye, Thailand’s Yingluck Shinawatra and Aung San Suu Kyi ofMyanmar all had male relations go before them. The two women slugging it out in Taiwan climbed to the political heights all by themselves.
Their ascendance is also a reflection of a wider women’s rights movement and acceptance of equality that many developed nations would envy.
“Taiwan is more politically mature than foreigners can ever imagine,” according to Liu Yi-jiun, a public affairs professor at Fo Guang University in Taiwan. According to his research, only about 2 per cent of Taiwanese – mostly older – oppose female leadership.
Women are elbowing their way into many arenas typically dominated by men. They manage 10 government departments and some of Taiwan’s top companies. A third of Taiwan’s parliamentarians are female (a higher percentage than the UK and US) and 10 per cent of its armed forces.
In total, an impressive 50.19 per cent of women are working – more than its neighbours including Japan and South Korea.
Speaking earlier this year in Washington, Tsai said: “Taiwanese people are faced with a very serious test next year – that is whether we are advanced and civilised enough to accept a woman leader.”
That now looks almost certain to happen.
What will its impact be?
It’s difficult to imagine two more different candidates than Tsai and Hung.
One is a fire-brand, the other reserved. One is known for her pro-China position, the other for her cooler, more cautious approach.
That in itself is a lesson, proof that female politicians are not all the same but should be judged as individuals – just like the men.
But a female leader for Taiwan would be critically significant for another more particular reason.
Throughout its history Taiwan has struggled to shake off the image that it is merely an off-shoot of China.
But mainland China, ruled by the Communist party since 1949, is a long, long way from having a female leader.
Few women are in positions of power, and none in the Communist party’s top tier.
The only women to bear power in imperial China are depicted as selfish, vain and decadent in the history books.
The election of a female president in Taiwan would underline the genuine, gaping differences between the two. It may also send a message to Beijing about the importance of women on the political front line.
Print
Email