“Dried Mango”: Taiwan’s Fiercely Democratic Young Voters

Authors

  • Ming-sho Ho National Taiwan University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25365/jeacs.2021.2.197-203

Keywords:

Taiwan, Youth, Election, China

Abstract

This short piece looks at the phenomenon of the “feeling of losing one’s country” (nicknamed “dried mango”) in Taiwan’s 2020 election and how it facilitated the Democratic Progressive Party in winning re-election by securing the support of young voters (typically defined as those under thirty). Previously, the fear of a change in the political status quo was typically used by the Kuomintang as an electoral tactic to mobilise its hardcore supporters. Yet, with the threat from a more assertive China, there emerged a reversal in partisanship. Taiwan’s voters under the age of thirty grew up without the experience of authoritarian rule, and they embraced democratic values more closely, which made them value political liberties more than their parents’ generation.

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References

Ho, Ming-sho 何明修. 2021. “Fan songzhong yundong zai Taiwan: kangzhengxing jihui de fenxi 反送中運動在台灣:抗爭性集會的分析 (Anti-extradition Movement in Taiwan: An Analysis of Protest Gatherings).” Zhongguo dalu yanjiu 中國大陸研究 64(2): 1-39.

Juang, Wen-jong, and Yung-tai Hung 莊文忠、洪永泰. 2021. Di shiwu ren zongtong fuzongtong ji di shijie lifa weiyuan xuanju toupiao tongji fenxi qimo baogao 第十五任總統副總統及第十屆立法委員選舉投票統計分析:期末報告 (A Statistical Analysis of the 15th Election for President and Vice-president and the 10th Election for Legislators: Final Report). Taipei: Central Election Commission. Accessed on May 3, 2021. https://web.cec.gov.tw/central/cms/resrch_rep/34570.

Kuomintang 中國國民黨. 2020. Jiantao baogao 檢討報告 (Reflection Report). Accessed on May 19, 2020. https://www.wealth.com.tw/home/articles/23953.

The Alliance of Losers 失敗者聯盟. 2020. Wangguogan de nixi 亡國感的逆襲 (Counterattack against the Feeling of Losing One’s Own Country). Taipei: Chunshan.

Taiwan Thinktank 台灣智庫. 2021. Li Denghui lishi dingwei mindiao jizhehui (san): Taiwan minzhuhua yu gongmin canyu 李登輝歷史定位民調記者會(三):台灣民主化與公民參與 (Press Conference on Survey on the Historical Role of Lee Teng-hui: Taiwan’s Democratisation and Citizen Participation). January 13, unpublished press conference material.

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Published

2021-12-30 — Updated on 2022-01-03

Versions

How to Cite

Ho, M.- sho. (2022). “Dried Mango”: Taiwan’s Fiercely Democratic Young Voters. The Journal of the European Association for Chinese Studies, 2, 197–203. https://doi.org/10.25365/jeacs.2021.2.197-203 (Original work published December 30, 2021)

Issue

Section

Spotlights