On Saturday, voters in Taiwan will elect a new president and legislature. With an increasingly belligerent China 100 miles away across the Taiwan Strait, the election could have significant implications for relations between Beijing and Taipei, as well as U.S. foreign policy in East Asia.
Though relatively new—it’s first democratic presidential election took place in 1996—Taiwan has a “very robust, very resilient and healthy democracy,” explained Dan Blumenthal, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focusing on East Asian security issues and Sino-American relations.
Emma Rogers is a former Dispatch intern. She has a masters degree in global policy studies from the University of Texas.
