Experts: "Lai Qingde's election as president is a good result for Taiwan's democracy and the world"

Lai Qingde, the candidate of the Democracy and Development Party, which advocates Taiwan's sovereignty and independence, was elected president. January 13, 2024, Taipei, Taiwan.

Lai Qingde, the candidate of the Democracy and Development Party, which advocates Taiwan's sovereignty and independence, won the presidential election and became the new president of Taiwan. Experts who closely monitor the situation in Taiwan say that the election results are good for Taiwan, democracy and the world, but unfortunate for Beijing.

Reuters reported that Lai Chingde, the candidate of the Democratic and Development Party, won a total of 5.58 million votes, or 40.1 percent, in the January 13, 2024 Taiwan presidential election, and became the new president of Taiwan.

After Lai Chingde's victory, at a press conference held on Saturday night, he emphasized that a new chapter had opened in the history of democracy for the Taiwanese people. "We have shown the world how much we value our democracy," he said. This is our unwavering commitment. We advocate dialogue, not confrontation. "Taiwan is always on the side of democracy, not dictatorship."

The majority of observers and experts who have been paying close attention to the situation in Taiwan believe that the election of Lai Qingde, the candidate of the Democratic and Development Party, as the president, will not bring about a big change in the current situation of Taiwan.

William Duiker, a former professor at the Pennsylvania State University's Institute of East Asian Studies and a former US State Department official, said that the election would push the situation in Taiwan to continue for several decades.

"The results of the Taiwan election can be viewed from a different perspective. The newly elected president of Taiwan, Lai Qingdeni, has another name, William Lai, and I will call him by that name. William Lai received the most votes in the election, and was elected President of Taiwan. On the other hand, he did not get a majority of the votes. The other two candidates won about 60 percent of the total vote in the election. I think the new president will face some opposition in some of his policies due to the structure of the new Taiwanese parliament. All in all, this election means that the situation that has been going on in Taiwan for several decades will continue again. The general attitude and sense of identity of the residents of Taiwan towards mainland China has become distant. The people of Taiwan consider themselves not ``Chinese'' but ``Taiwanese''. This election is a continuation and manifestation of this trend. William Lai openly stated that he does not like the Beijing government and has no desire to promote Taiwan's reunification with the mainland. Obviously, the outcome of the election is unfortunate for Beijing, and this situation will create more tension in the Taiwan Strait. I think many observers, myself included, think that the outcome of the election is likely to further escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait. China's military operations may increase in the Taiwan Strait."

Some observers and experts who are paying close attention to the situation in Taiwan believe that due to the results of the election, the situation in the Taiwan Strait will become more tense and China's military actions may increase.

However, Mr. Hu Ping (胡平), a Chinese analyst in the United States and former editor-in-chief of "Beijing Spring" magazine, believes that there will be no major changes in China-Taiwan relations. He argued that the election in Taiwan would be a great inspiration to the people of the mainland.

"The election results in Taiwan prove that Taiwan is already a mature and stable democratic society. In this election, Lai Qingde, the candidate of the Democracy and Development Party, was elected as the president. But Taiwan's current situation will not change much. In general, it is unlikely that China will use force on Taiwan, and there will be no large-scale military exercises. However, small changes, small things can happen. Of course, Sino-Taiwanese relations will be colder than under Ma Yingjiu. Even if there is a great change, there is not necessarily a war. That is, there is no possibility of war. As for the election in Taiwan, it will be a great encouragement to the people of the mainland because they will see that Taiwan is practicing democracy. Why can't we practice democracy on the continent, he asks himself? Therefore, during the election period, especially during the voting and counting of votes, China controlled the Internet more tightly than before, and the Chinese Communist Party feared that Taiwan's democracy would encourage and promote the mainland even more.

It turns out that Taiwan's slow wage growth, high housing costs, and power shortages have become controversial issues in this election. The people of Taiwan, especially the youth, hope that the new president, Lai Qingde, will solve these problems.

Speaking about this, Associate Professor of Turkey's Hacettepe University, Dr. Free Ekram, pointed out that Lai Chinde's policies have been successful in political, economic, and diplomatic fields, although he faces some opposition due to the number of members of parliament.

Foreign governments are congratulating newly elected President Lai Ching-de, hailing the election as "proof of Taiwan's democracy".

American political analyst Ilshat Hasan is one of the people of this opinion, and explained the opposite in this regard: "Taiwan Democracy and Development Party candidate Lei Chingde won the presidential election and became the new president of Taiwan, which is good news and a good opportunity for Uyghurs."

William Daiker said the election results in Taiwan proved the fallacy of Xi Jinping's claim that "strong and centralized regimes are a core historical feature of Chinese political culture." He believes that although Xi Jinping insists that autocracy is a common feature of Chinese history, the fact that the people of Taiwan can freely and democratically elect their leaders shows that Chinese culture and democracy are compatible.

China’s public security announced a case to crack down on online rumors, calling 2024 the year of special action to rectify information

Public security in many places in China announced cases of "cracking down online rumors", raising concerns about stricter control over speech.

Recently, the public security organs in Shanghai, Nanjing, Inner Mongolia and other places announced cases of "combating online rumors". Many people involved were punished, and their remarks involved various fields of economy, society, and health. The authorities have warned against "spreading rumors" on social platforms such as WeChat and Douyin, and the Ministry of Public Security has recently designated 2024 as a "year of special action to crack down on online rumors."

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China's Ministry of Public Security lists top ten examples of rumors, most of which are social incidents

This year is China’s Ministry of Public Security’s “Special Action Year to Combat and Combat Internet Rumors.” On January 13, the People's Public Security Daily reported that so far, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau has investigated and dealt with 8 online rumor cases, 8 rumor spreaders, and cleared 967 pieces of rumor information. According to reports, Liu recently fabricated false information on the Internet platform such as "Shanghai City God Temple is bankrupt, and the starting price of 1 billion failed to be auctioned." Subsequently, Liu was administratively detained by the Shanghai police for 5 days. Su was administratively detained by the Shanghai police for 10 days for splicing and editing videos of a Shanghai driver who was quickly handled by the traffic control department after being investigated by the traffic control department at Shanghai South Railway Station.

China's economic situation worsens, and public complaints continue

Luo Wei, a commentator in Nanjing, said in an interview with Radio Free Asia on Thursday that China's economic situation has deteriorated and public complaints have spread. The authorities' move is to warn netizens to be cautious in their words and deeds. She said: "After the epidemic, the economy was very bad, social injustice had been backlogged for a long time, and it finally broke out. They (officials) also noticed that there were a lot of complaints among the people. In fact, most of the people they attacked were not spreading rumors. I think their move It’s about maintaining stability.”

Two days ago, the Nanjing Public Security Bureau announced five typical cases of "online rumors." The remarks of the five people involved all related to social issues and earthquake disasters, and the parties involved were subject to administrative penalties.

Luo Wei believes that combating online rumors is actually an attempt to silence netizens: "It's just to silence, and their way to solve the problem is to silence the people who speak out."

Inner Mongolia police notified netizens of forwarding overseas rumors

On January 12, the WeChat account of the Azuo Banner Police of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Public Security Bureau "Ping An Azuo Banner" reported that on January 6, police from the Xinhua Street Police Station of the Azuo Banner Public Security Bureau discovered that a WeChat friend with the WeChat nickname "Peng Moumou" circle, and released the information "More than 20 HIV-infected patients have appeared in a public institution within the jurisdiction of Azuo Banner...". After investigation, Peng Moumou used the "circuit wall" software on his mobile phone to enter the external chat group and browsed the message, and posted it on WeChat Moments without verification. Among them, Li Moumou intercepted and saved Peng Moumou's WeChat Moments message. and spread it to WeChat friends. Peng Moumou and Li Moumou confessed to fictitious facts that disrupted public order, and Peng Moumou was given administrative detention for 10 days and a fine of 500 yuan, and Li Moumou was given administrative detention for 7 days.

Xi Haiming, an overseas Mongolian dissident, said in an interview with this station that he believed that there was a regime crisis in China: "He has a governance crisis, so the more nervous he is, the more strict he will be. They are very nervous now, and it is the same in ethnic areas. We are here It can be felt overseas. I talked to a few friends. They used to be in several WeChat groups, but now many groups have kicked them out. They were rejected as friends on WeChat. Even local people liked them on Facebook. They (Public Security) They’re all observing.”

This year is the year of special actions to combat online rumors

Three weeks ago, Li Tong, deputy director of the Cyber ​​Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of China, said in Beijing that the Party Committee of the Ministry of Public Security decided to use 2024 as the year of special action to combat online rumors and deploy public security agencies across the country to carry out a one-year special action.

Shanxi scholar Chen Chen said in an interview with this station that domestic netizens will bypass the wall to browse overseas websites, especially news from overseas Chinese media. Many netizens also capture real-time overseas information on social media such as WeChat Moments. He said: "The government's Internet control will only become more and more stringent. On the one hand, this reflects the fragility of the regime, and on the other hand, it shows that the current situation is very delicate. For the government, the control of public opinion should be said to be the same as before. This is their need to maintain so-called political stability."

On January 11, the Suiyang County Public Security Bureau and the Cyberspace Administration of Guizhou Province issued a notice: Netizens are encouraged to report false information spread on WeChat groups, Moments, Weibo, Tieba, Kuaishou, Douyin, websites and other Internet platforms. He also warned that illegal and criminal activities that fabricate and spread rumors online and disrupt public order will be resolutely and severely cracked down.