In 2016, Tsai Ing-wen was sworn in as the first female president of Taiwan, she is from the liberal Democratic Progressive Party. Tsai Ing-wen beat out the acting president from Kuomintang the conservative party, Kuomintang had a good relationship with China. Previously Kuomintang has been holding the power of president for 8 years. This win by Tsai Ing-wen has been a major change for Taiwan since she won the election.
Most people considered the economy was good and stable while the The conservative party Kuomintang ran the country, since they have a great relationship with China. Their philosophy with China is that “We don’t claim Taiwan is an independent country, we are Chinese, we are family, and we don’t talk about any controversial topics if it relates to China.” The benefits of this relationship is that the Chinese government allows their people to visit Taiwan, since it only takes one hour to get to Taiwan from China. Traveling to Taiwan has been a popular option for the Chinese people, but since Tsai Ing-wen became the president, the Chinese government has had Economic sanctions against Taiwan, and it truly affects the economy in Taiwan. Chinese government is known for giving their people very little freedom while it relates to politics and ruling.
For my generation in Taiwan, we have grown up with freedom, and we are eager to get more. We fight for the legalization of same sex marriage, we had The Sunflower Student Movement for stopping the conservative party Kuomintang for signing the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement with Chinese government secretly. But at the same time, we are struggling with the incredibly tough economy situation. The job market has been slow for a while, minimum wage has been low for a long time, and the bloody truth is that China is still a hot market, everyone wants to sell their products to China. For some reason, I agree, it’s easy to make money for doing business with China.
You lose something to get something.
You have to play along if you want to close the deal. Since the economy of Taiwan hasn’t been doing well, it also affects the entertainment industry. A lot of Taiwanese artists and actors go to China for their career, and they do get a lot of opportunities and money. But you have to follow their rules if you want to make your career there. The Taiwanese artists can’t say they are Taiwanese, they have to say they are Chinese. It’s getting worse since a Taiwanese director said that “Taiwan is an independent country and that we are Taiwanese” at an Award ceremony. Most of Taiwanese artists and actors had to post on their WeChat or social media pages, that they are Chinese and that Taiwan is part of China.
It’s hard for me and my generation, people have to agree that we are part of China, to succeed. We are proud of being a Taiwanese, but at the same time, we want a better career. There are not a lot of job opportunities in Taiwan since the economy has been bad, and the low salary situation has been an issue for a while. Most of my friends want to stay in Taiwan, to have our career there, to have a family there, and do something for our hometown, but reality keeps pushing us away.
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