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  • On this episode of China Uncensored

  • Finally!

  • Election coverage America cares about

  • and doesn't involved Donald Trump!

  • Hi, welcome to China Uncensored I'm your host Chris Chappell.

  • Chinese voters on Saturday elected a new president:

  • Tsai Ing-wen!

  • And by Chinese voters,

  • I mean the people of Taiwan.

  • Not the people living in the other China,

  • the one without elections

  • even though their leader is still called the "president" for some reason.

  • Still waiting for that interview, by the way.

  • Now sure, Taiwan has a democracy.

  • But according to my favorite Chinese state-run media Global Times,

  • "the 'one person, one vote' system in Taiwan is not mature."

  • By which, I assume, they mean

  • it's less mature than mainland China's

  • "one person, no vote" system.

  • Clearly superior.

  • Anyway, not only did Tsai Ing-wen win Taiwan's election by a pretty big margin,

  • her party, the DPP, also took 60 percent of the seats in parliament.

  • The opposing KMT party,

  • which has been leading Taiwan for the last eight years,

  • suffered a big defeat.

  • Now the US government has been watching this election closely

  • because US-Taiwan relations are,

  • let's say, politically sensitive with respect to mainland China.

  • Tsai Ing-wen's party, the DPP,

  • is known for taking a more pro-independence stance.

  • That is, asserting that Taiwan is not just another province of China,

  • but its own sovereign entity.

  • You can learn more about that issue here.

  • The Communist Party,

  • in no subtle terms,

  • disagrees with this stance.

  • The Chinese Communist Party has hundreds of missiles aimed at Taiwan and has promised

  • to use force to take back the island if it declares independence.

  • They even held Taiwan invasion training drills last year.

  • Global Times, always the rational voice,

  • responded to Tsai's election by saying any pushes for independence were mere "hallucinations"

  • and that if she were to "cross the red line of cross-Straits relations, she will meet

  • a dead end."

  • Hopefully that's just a poor choice of words,

  • and not a thinly veiled death threat.

  • But you can understand why Tsai's election could be upsetting to the Communist Party.

  • The outgoing political party, the KMT

  • has for the past eight years pushed for closer ties with mainland China.

  • They signed an important trade agreement,

  • encouraged cross-straight tourism,

  • and made it easier for mainland companies to invest in Taiwan and vice versa.

  • Now Tsai hasn't exactly been against ties with mainland China.

  • Her China policy has just been intentionally vague.

  • So will Tsai push for Taiwan independence?

  • And will that mean the Communist Party will invade Taiwan,

  • forcing the US to fulfill its promise to come to Taiwan's defense

  • sparking the deadliest US military conflict in Asia since the Vietnam war?

  • No.

  • No, that's not going to happen.

  • Less than 10 percent of Taiwan's citizens actually want Taiwan to declare independence.

  • The great majority want to preserve the status quo:

  • That is, just leave it in the current, sort of awkward state.

  • So if Tsai is smart

  • and by all accounts she is

  • she's going to go with... status quo.

  • Understandably, though, the US is concerned that even without a war,

  • there could be some rocky relations with mainland China.

  • When relations are smooth,

  • the US can free up its resources to deal withall the other rocky relations the US is involved with.

  • But even smooth relations, well

  • the Communist Party has a plan for that, too.

  • As the Communist Party worked with the KMT to build stronger economic ties,

  • Taiwan has become increasingly dependant on mainland China.

  • Case in point:

  • Taiwanese born singer Chou Tzu-yu,

  • member of the K-pop group Twice.

  • During her appearance on a variety show on South Korean TV,

  • she waived the Taiwan flag.

  • Then Chinese people,

  • including possibly the same type of 50-cent commentators who write pro-CCP things on my

  • YouTube channel,

  • were upset. Outraged, in fact.

  • How dare she wave the official Taiwan flag...

  • while in Korea?

  • Long story short,

  • after a media firestorm,

  • Chou was forced to apologize.

  • And now she's taking a break from performing in China so she can, you know,

  • reflect seriously on her actions.

  • Many think her Korean management company JYP Entertainment felt this apology was necessary to,

  • you guessed it,

  • preserve their access to the Chinese market.

  • So suffice it to say,

  • Cross-Strait relations are complicated.

  • Nobody wants war.

  • But a lot of people on both sides don't like the way things are.

  • And the CCP is using economics to control Taiwan.

  • In other words, Tsai's got her work cut out for her.

  • But Beijing wouldn't be wise to underestimate her.

  • A leaked US embassy cable called her, "extremely capable and very persuasive."

  • Plus she likes cats.

  • And we know how dangerous cats are.

  • So what do you think is next for Taiwan?

  • Do you think Taiwan should be independent?

  • Leave your comments below and

  • Oh hey, what's this?

  • How did this get here?

  • Anyway, thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored,

  • once again I'm Chris Chappell, see you next time.

  • "There is only one China.

  • The two shores are one.

  • I apologize for hurting the feelings of the Chinese people with my reckless actions.

  • I will reflect on this seriously."

  • Can I go now?

On this episode of China Uncensored

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