Livelihood, not stance on mainland, is top concern of Taiwan people

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Lai Ching-te from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the 2024 leadership election in China's Taiwan region on Saturday. The election is China's internal affair, but interestingly, exterior forces are making the best use of Lai's win to exaggerate the ideological differences between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan region, and deliberately connect his future policies – with "Taiwan Independence" tendency – with the mainland's potential "coercion" on the island.

"Beijing threat" has turned out to be one of the most frequently used words in their coverage of the voting. Spreading fake news about the Chinese mainland's potential "coercion," these anti-China forces are trying to sow divisions between people across the Straits and instigating tensions in the region.

Their attempt will never succeed.

To begin with, bread-and-butter issues – not ideology – have turned out to be the major concern of local people. According to a survey of 15,000 Taiwan residents by Commonwealth Magazine, most respondents named economic development as the top priority, outweighing both security and cross-Straits relations.

Taiwan youths, as CNN admitted after having interviewed them before the election, are tired of arguments over political rhetoric. While candidates are competing on ideologies and selling their policies on relations with the Chinese mainland, the Taiwan public cares more about their economic well-being.

After all, the sluggish economy has been a headache for the island, and the DPP, after eight years in power, has been bombarded for failing to stimulate the Taiwan economy. According to official estimates, Taiwan's GDP in 2023 will likely grow by 1.42 percent, the slowest pace since 2009.

Once a "high-growth" economy in the "Four Asian Tigers," Taiwan has seen its people's salaries stagnant while housing prices soared in the past decades. Although the DPP authority has raised the monthly minimum wage to NT$27,470 ($886) beginning January this year, it still lags behind other advanced economies.

In the meantime, the housing price across Taiwan, according to Commonwealth Magazine, has more than doubled since 2008. Statistics from the Taipei City Government shows that the average house price in Taipei is 30 times Taiwan locals' annual income.

"Between the crazy housing prices and economic pressure hanging over every decision, I can't see a path to starting a family or having a baby, even for the next 10 years," Nikkei Asia quoted Grace Wang, a 32-year-old cosmetics industry manager in Taiwan, as saying.

In this context, whether the new leader could build more affordable housing, increase ordinary people's incomes, and revive the economy is the top concern for local people.

Admittedly, Taiwan people care about cross-Straits relations. But compared with bread-and-butter issues, ideology – or how the new leader would position Taiwan in interactions with the Chinese mainland – is not at the center stage in voting.

In addition, the Taiwan public does not see the Chinese mainland as a "threat." Maintaining the status quo – the two sides across the Taiwan Straits belong to one and the same China, and Taiwan is a part of China's territory – is gaining popularity in Taiwan. According to a survey by local institutes, public support in Taiwan for maintaining the status quo across the Straits has been growing over the past three years.

"In the eyes of many Taiwan people, they don't think they need to choose a side because they think the status quo will not be changed immediately," CNN quoted Austin Wang, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, as saying. "So, if the status quo will always be there, maybe we can consider some other issues, just like social justice, high housing prices, and things like that," said Wang.

Between livelihood and ideology, Taiwan people have the wisdom to make the right choice. Exterior forces' attempt to sell wars to the region is doomed to fail.

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