Taipei’s former top diplomat in the United States and now frontrunner to become Taiwan’s next vice president stated on Friday that the governing party of Taiwan will not allow a conflict to break out with China but that China is responsible for stirring up tensions. “China is to blame for stirring up tensions,” the former diplomat said.

There will be presidential and legislative elections on January 13, defining the relationship between Beijing and Taiwan, which China claims. These elections are taking place at a time when China is increasing its military activity near Taiwan to establish its sovereignty claims.

China has criticized the incumbent vice president Lai Ching-te, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate who is currently leading in the polls, for framing the election as a choice between war and peace. China has portrayed the election as a choice between war and peace, which Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), has echoed.

Lai’s running partner, Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s high-profile former de facto ambassador to the United States, stated that her opponents have constantly accused the DPP of causing tensions in the Taiwan Strait during a live broadcast pre-election policy talk. The three vice presidential candidates delivered the address.

“However, the entire world is aware that the valid reason is that China has been pushing outward in an authoritarian posture for several years to alter the current international order and status quo. Hsiao commented that the buildup of China’s weaponry continued unabated even when the KMT was in power.

We are working to enhance our defenses to prevent conflict. The status quo of peace in the Taiwan Strait is something that Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim advocate for, and I want to make it clear to my fellow citizens that we will not allow war to break out in the Taiwan Strait.

Jaw Shaw-kong, a fiery media personality and the vice presidential candidate for the Kuomintang (KMT), stated that his party was “absolutely not pro-China” as he was standing next to Jai.

Jaw, whose party has always supported strong ties with China, stated that the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) does not grasp mainland China and does not possess any understanding whatsoever of the Communist Party.

“The DPP are using the China threat as a chip to get them elected, to dupe the electorate.”

Jaw stated that Taiwan and China need to engage in discussion. He criticized the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) for failing to do so and pledged that the Kuomintang (KMT) would restart talks while also maintaining Taiwan’s defenses.

On several occasions, President Tsai Ing-wen and her cabinet, including Lai and Hsiao, have made numerous attempts to engage in dialogue with China while they were campaigning, but they have been unsuccessful.

The Chinese government has referred to the election as an “internal Chinese affair” and has referred to Lai and Hsiao as dangerous separatists.

According to the DPP and the KMT, Taiwan’s people are the only ones who can decide their destiny.

In her speech, Cynthia Wu, the vice presidential candidate for the Taiwan People’s Party, now in a distant second place in the polls, made very few references to China. Instead, she focused on internal problems, such as the necessity of establishing a sovereign wealth fund.

“Outside interference” must be avoided during Taiwan’s election in 2024, according to the senior diplomat of the United States in Taipei, who stated on Monday that the United States’ stance toward the island will stay the same regardless of who wins.

During the presidential and parliamentary elections that will take place on January 13, Taiwan’s relations with its neighbors might be defined by the results of these elections. President Tsai Ing-wen and other authorities have warned that China may attempt to influence voters in favor of candidates who desire stronger ties with Beijing.

However, even though diplomatic relations with the Chinese-claimed island have been severed, the United States continues to be Taiwan’s most significant international backer and weaponry supplier.

In a lecture that she delivered at National Taiwan University, Sandra Oudkirk, who is the director of the American Institute in Taiwan and the de facto representative of the United States in Taiwan, they were stated that the United States has a great deal of faith in Taiwan’s democratic system and election procedures.

“We believe it is for the Taiwan voters to decide their next leader, free from outside interference,” stated the politician.

“And as I have said many times before, the United States is not taking sides in Taiwan’s election, we do not have a preferred candidate and we know very well that we do not have a vote,” according to Oudkirk. “We support Taiwan’s vibrant democracy and look forward to working with whichever leaders Taiwan voters elect in 2024.”

According to the results of popular opinion surveys, Lai Ching-te, presently serving as vice president and a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, is the leading candidate to become Taiwan’s next leader. China has rejected several of Lai’s invitations for negotiations because of China’s strong distaste for him and its belief that he is a separatist.

Lai’s primary adversary is Hou Yu-ih, a member of Taiwan’s major opposition party, the Kuomintang. This party has always supported tight connections with China. Still, it vehemently rejects being pro-Beijing and asserts that it will continue to preserve its close relationship with the United States.

The Chinese government has increased the amount of military pressure it exerted against Taiwan over the previous four years. This includes conducting two rounds of massive war exercises near the island in the past year and a half.

Geert Wilders, a populist from the far right who won a historic election that will have implications in the Netherlands and Europe, has stated that he is interested in being the next prime minister of the Netherlands and that, if elected, he will concentrate his efforts on reducing immigration.

Wilders, vehemently anti-Islam and anti-EU, is an admirer of the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the eurosceptic Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban. Wilders has also threatened to cut Dutch contributions to the European Union and oppose the accession of any new members, including Ukraine.

While other parties that he must collaborate with to form a coalition government will reject Wilders’ most radical proposals, fellow populists like Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and leader of the far-right League, have praised his success as proof that “a new Europe is possible.”

On Wednesday, Wilders’ Freedom Party (PVV) gained 37 seats out of 150, easily beating all projections. This put them comfortably ahead of a joint Labour/Green ticket, which got 25 seats, and the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, won 24 seats.

Wilders stated on Thursday to the Dutch media that he aspired to hold the position of prime minister and that he supported a referendum on whether the Netherlands should exit the EU.

“But the first thing is a significant restriction on asylum and immigration,” according to Wilders. “We don’t do that for ourselves; we do that for all the Dutch people who voted for us.”

Although Wilders’ party will hold roughly a quarter of the seats in parliament, he will need to tone down some of his more extreme positions to form a coalition with more established parties and assume the leadership role.

Even though none of the parties with whom Wilders might form a government would be ready to quit the EU or breach constitutional provisions on freedom of religion in the Netherlands, Wilders has stated that he is optimistic that a compromise can be achieved.

Pieter Omtzigt, a moderate politician who leads the Freedom Party, the VVD, and the NSC party, would control 81 legislative seats if they joined forces. This would make it the most apparent combination. Because leaders of the VVD and NSC have voiced qualms about cooperating with Wilders, coalition discussions are anticipated to take many months to complete.

The victory of Geert Wilders should serve as a wake-up call to mainstream parties across Europe in front of the elections for the European Parliament in June 2019, which are expected to be fought over the same concerns as the election in the Netherlands, including immigration, the cost of living, and climate change.

Herman Borcher, a voter in the town of Enschede in the east of the country, expressed his satisfaction with the election outcome by saying, “We had it with the old politicians.”

Voter Sabine Schoppen agreed that “the Netherlands needed change,” She smiled, “Rutte, see you later.” The pleasure is all mine, Geert Wilders.”

‘NEW EUROPE,’ you say?
The election in Poland a month ago, won by a coalition of pro-European parties over the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, demonstrated that not all countries in the region are moving to the right.

“The Netherlands are not France,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire promptly commented, conceding that the Dutch election demonstrated “the fears emerging in Europe” about immigration and the economy. “The fears that are emerging in Europe” refer to concerns about the economy and immigration.

But Wilders’ win comes just two months after the return to power in Slovakia of another anti-EU populist, Robert Fico, who has vowed to stop providing military aid to Ukraine and limit immigration.

“The winds of change are here!,” Orban of Hungary said.

Wilders has stated on many occasions that the Netherlands needs to cease supplying arms to Ukraine because he believes that the nation requires weapons to be able to protect itself. He is an ardent supporter of Israel.

BE FEARFUL
Following Wilders’ election, some rights organizations—including Islamic, Moroccan, and other rights organizations—expressed concern. About five percent of the whole population identifies as Muslim.

“These election results are shocking for Dutch Muslims,” said Muhsin Koktas of the Dutch Muslim organization CMO. “This election result is shocking for Dutch Muslims.” “We have great concerns about the future of Islam and Muslims in the Netherlands.”

Amnesty International issued the following statement: “Yesterday, human rights were lost.”

suddenly that Wilders has won, all eyes will be on the possible government partners who had strong reservations about working with him throughout the campaign but are suddenly being less vociferous about those reservations following his victory.

“We are available to govern,” Omtzigt of the NSC party declared. “This is an unfortunate turn of events. On Thursday, we will discuss how we might be able to participate most effectively.

The leader of the VVD, Dilan Yesilgoz, declared earlier this week that her party would not take part in a Geert Wilders-led administration. However, she stated that the winner was responsible for demonstrating that he could obtain a majority.

On Friday, the heads of the parties will get together to select an “explorer,” a political outsider who will listen to each party’s perspective on the potential outcomes of coalition discussions and the options they like.