To Be or Not to Be Part of Greater China: Social Development in the Post-Ma Taiwan

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Taiwan has transitioned towards democratization. In 2000, the young opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), defeated and replaced the authoritarian ruling party, the Kuomintang (KMT), for the first time. However, this critical political change failed to meet the social reform expectations of the people, which resulted in the triumph of the KMT in the presidential election in 2008. The same story was repeated in 2016 when the KMT and President Ma Ying-jeou lost their legitimacy to the public, and they were replaced by the current President Tsai Ing-wen, the DPP leader. This article interprets the extremely difficult policy choice of Taiwan towards China and how its relationship with China shapes social development issues behind these political changes. Democratization has long been regarded as the main driving force for East Asian welfare development, especially with the cases of Taiwan and Korea. However, in conclusion, this article argues the importance of globalization in shaping domestic politics and managing welfare expectations.