In a press conference, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (KMT) declared his intent to resign, saying that the election results clearly voiced popular discontent towards the KMT administration.
“The results of this election,” he said, “show that the [KMT] administration’s policies have failed to gain traction with the people, and the popular voice is cleared reflected in their ballots.”
Attitudes among the Taiwanese populace have been shifting with developments in the island’s leadership and foreign policy, particular in regards to relations with mainland China.
In March, the Sunflower Movement, driven by student and civic groups, occupied Taiwan’s Legislative and Executive Yuan (Taiwan’s national legislature) in response to a would-be trade deal with the communist regime that many perceived to be detrimental to Taiwan’s economic independence.
Yuan Hongbing, former law professor at Beijing University, told New Tang Dynasty Television that the “crushing defeat” of the KMT in this round of elections was “a slap on the face to the Chinese regime’s united front strategy” in the Taiwanese political scene. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has since its inception employed a united front strategy, in which organizations or individuals who are not part of the CCP are used to advance the CCP’s goals.
“The people of Taiwan,” Yuan said, “have told the [Chinese] Communist Party that they can buy out the KMT leaders and big financial groups, but not the Taiwanese people.”
With reporting by NTD Television.
