New president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, and the future of cross-strait relations represented by newspapers of the People’s Republic of China

Cross-strait relations (the relation between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China) have not always been stable. On16 January 2016, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the elections in Taiwan and candidate Tsai Ing-wen became the new president of the Republic of China. Officially, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) still favours eventual independence for Taiwan, while the previous ruling party, the Kuomintang (KMT) favours eventual re-unification (Tiezzie, 2015). The relations between the DPP and the Chine Communist Party (CCP) have not been stable since the last ruling period of the DPP in 2000 and 2008. In 2008, Ma Ying-jeou was elected as president of Taiwan and has sought to improve relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), mainly through economic agreements. This strategy was not that easily accepted by the Taiwanese people. In 2014 students occupied the Taiwanese parliament and protested against China’s growing influence on Taiwan. This...Show moreCross-strait relations (the relation between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China) have not always been stable. On16 January 2016, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the elections in Taiwan and candidate Tsai Ing-wen became the new president of the Republic of China. Officially, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) still favours eventual independence for Taiwan, while the previous ruling party, the Kuomintang (KMT) favours eventual re-unification (Tiezzie, 2015). The relations between the DPP and the Chine Communist Party (CCP) have not been stable since the last ruling period of the DPP in 2000 and 2008. In 2008, Ma Ying-jeou was elected as president of Taiwan and has sought to improve relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), mainly through economic agreements. This strategy was not that easily accepted by the Taiwanese people. In 2014 students occupied the Taiwanese parliament and protested against China’s growing influence on Taiwan. This protest was called the “Sunflower Movement” (Rowen, 2015, p.6). In the run up to the elections in 2016, Chinese and Taiwanese media were focussing on Tsai Ing-wen and her opinion towards the cross-straits relations. The traditional position of the DDP towards this topic is that “Taiwan is already an independent state and sovereign country whose territory consists of Taiwan and its surrounding smaller islands and whose sovereignty derives only from the ROC citizens living in Taiwan” (Democratic Progressive Party, 2007). Tsai Ing wen never fully departed from the party line, but her personal approach is nuanced. Now that the DPP officially has become the ruling party, many people are curious how the CCP will react to this change. The Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) noted that the CCP will hold on to the 1992 consensus, and that the CCP won’t change its approach towards the ROC due to the elections. The CCP opposes any separatist activities and emphasise the fact that both Taiwan and Mainland China needs to cherish the current situation. However, there are some changes in store for cross-strait relations. Tsai-Ing Wen has not yet accepted the 1992 consensus, but says both sides need to go back to the origins of the consensus and analyse them again (Tiezzie, 2005). In my research paper, I want to further analyse representation of Taiwan’s 2016 election in the People’s Republic of China. I will strongly focus on the ideas and ideals of Tsai Ing-wen towards cross-straits relations. I take a closer look at how these concepts are represented by Chinese newspapers at the time of the elections and how the predict the future of cross-strait relations. In order to do this properly, I will first provide background information on the cross-straits relations. Second, I take a closer look at the election of 2016 in the ROC and at Tsai Ing-wen’s approach towards cross-straits relations. Afterwards I will explain the theory of discourse and my methodology for setting up the analysis. The last step before my analysis will be the selection of newspapers and articles, which is based on theoretical considerations and a time frame that I also discuss in the methodology section. Finally I will draw a conclusion and formulate an answer to my research questionShow less

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New president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, and the future of cross-strait relations represented by newspapers of the People’s Republic of China