Tsai Ing-wen Re-election: The China Factor and Taiwanese Identity

Last week, Taiwan re-elected its president, Tsai Ing-wen（蔡英文）, by a landslide. Her campaign focused heavily on what she claims is 'the rising threat from Beijing'. Since the election she has said that China needs to 'face reality' and show Taiwan 'respect'. This, and the sheer scale of her victory, might well suggest that cross-strait relations are about to enter a renewed rocky period. 

But is it quite that simple? 

Joining us this week to put these fresh election results into context is George Yin of Swarthmore College in Philadelphia and Harvard Fairbank Centre for Chinese Studies. George is part of a team that recently undertook a large-scale survey delving into Taiwanese attitudes toward identity, politics and cross-strait relations. 

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