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Trump, Hong Kong Protests, Boost Taiwan President's Approval Rating

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, a thorn in the side of China,
   saw her approval rating plunge to 24% about a year ago. Now the leader
   who continues to resist Beijing enjoys a more than 55% approval rating
   -- a month before she stands for reelection.

   The 63-year-old law scholar made the comeback on tailwinds from the
   Hong Kong mass protests since June and support from the government of
   U.S. President Donald Trump as he resists China for his own reasons,
   people watching the election campaign say. The protests and Trump
   effectively confirm Tsai's agenda of minimizing Beijing's influence
   over Taiwan, they say.

   "Tsai Ing-wen's actions of rejecting mainland China, blocking mainland
   China and rejecting exchanges with mainland China have suddenly changed
   from being questioned by a lot of people to where some people think
   those actions might be safer in the short term," said Huang Kwei-bo,
   vice dean of the international affairs college at National Chengchi
   University in Taipei.

   Tsai, first elected in 2016, will go up for reelection January 11
   against Han Kuo-yu, a southern Taiwan mayor backed by Taiwan's more
   China-friendly Nationalist Party.

   China and Taiwan have been separately ruled since the Chinese civil war
   of the 1940s, when the Nationalists lost to the Communists and rebased
   their government in Taipei. China claims sovereignty over
   democratically ruled Taiwan and insists that the two sides eventually
   unite, by use of force if needed.

   Hong Kong influence

   Months of mass protests of up to 1 million-plus people in Hong Kong,
   aimed largely against rule by Beijing, help Tsai remind Taiwanese of
   what would happen if China gained influence over Taiwan, said Shane
   Lee, retired political science professor at Chang Kung Christian
   University in Taiwan.

   China rules Hong Kong under what the Communist government calls "one
   country, two systems," implying a degree of autonomy for the former
   British territory. Protesters first rallied around a now defunct
   extradition law proposal that would let Hong Kong criminal suspects be
   deported to China, where punishments are harsher.

   Tsai said in June, shortly after the demonstrators started, she backed
   the Hong Kong protesters and urged the protection of freedom,
   democracy, and human rights in their territory. Days later she issued a
   statement saying the "democratic protests" in Hong Kong make Taiwanese
   "cherish their existing democratic system and way of life even more"
   while showing that China's model for ruling Hong Kong is "not viable"
   for Taiwan.

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