Tsai Ing-wen | Biography & Facts - Encyclopedia Britannica

Tsai Ing-wen, (born August 31, 1956, Fang-shan township, P'ing-tung county, Taiwan), educator and politician who became the first female ... TsaiIng-wen TableofContents TsaiIng-wen Introduction FastFacts Facts&RelatedContent Media Images More MoreArticlesOnThisTopic Contributors ArticleHistory RelatedBiographies ChenShui-bian presidentofTaiwan LeeTeng-hui presidentofTaiwan ChiangKai-shek Chinesestatesman ChiangChing-kuo presidentofTaiwan SeeAll Home Politics,Law&Government WorldLeaders Presidents&HeadsofStates TsaiIng-wen presidentofTaiwan Actions Cite verifiedCite Whileeveryefforthasbeenmadetofollowcitationstylerules,theremaybesomediscrepancies. Pleaserefertotheappropriatestylemanualorothersourcesifyouhaveanyquestions. 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TsaiIng-wen-StudentEncyclopedia(Ages11andup) By KennethPletcher • LastUpdated: Aug2,2022 • EditHistory TableofContents TsaiIng-wen Seeallmedia Born: August31,1956(age65) Taiwan (Birthdayin7days) ...(Showmore) Title/Office: president(2016-),Taiwan ...(Showmore) PoliticalAffiliation: DemocraticProgressiveParty ...(Showmore) Seeallrelatedcontent→ TsaiIng-wen,(bornAugust31,1956,Fang-shantownship,P’ing-tungcounty,Taiwan),educatorandpoliticianwhobecamethefirstfemalepresidentofTaiwan(2016–).Tsai,whoisofHakkadescent,wasoneofninechildrenborntoawealthybusinessfamily.ShespentherearlychildhoodincoastalsouthernTaiwanbeforegoingtoTaipei,whereshecompletedhereducation.Shereceivedalawdegree(1978)fromNationalTaiwanUniversityinTaipeiandthenattendedCornellUniversity,Ithaca,NewYork,andtheLondonSchoolofEconomics,earning,respectively,master’s(1980)anddoctorate(1984)degreesinlaw.TsaithenreturnedtoTaiwan,whereuntil2000shetaughtlawatuniversitiesinTaipei. ReadMoreonThisTopic Taiwan:TheTsaiIng-wenpresidency OnJanuary16,2016,Taiwan’svoterswenttothepollsandgaveTsaiIng-wen,chairoftheDDP,aresoundingvictory.She... Tsaibecameinvolvedingovernmentserviceintheearly1990swhenshewasappointedasatradepolicyadviserintheadministrationofPres.LeeTeng-hui.AsignificantachievementduringthattimewashermajorroleinthenegotiationsthatpavedthewayforTaiwantojoin(2002)theWorldTradeOrganization.In2000,afterChenShui-bianoftheDemocraticProgressiveParty(DPP)becamepresidentofTaiwan,heappointedTsaichairoftheMainlandAffairsCouncil.Thatorganization,whichwasresponsibleforrelationsbetweenTaiwanandChina,facedsignificantchallengesduringChen’sadministration(2000–08)becauseoftheDPP’sresistancetoChinaandbecauseofitsadvocacyofindependenceforTaiwan.In2004TsaijoinedtheDPPandwaselectedasamember-at-largetoTaiwan’snationallegislature.Sheresignedherseatinearly2006whenshewasappointedvice-premierofTaiwan.SheremainedinthatpostuntilMay2007.In2008,followingtheDPP’slossinTaiwan’spresidentialelection,Tsaiwaschosenasthefirstwomanpresidentoftheparty.ShesuccessfullyrebuilttheDPPafteritsdefeatandwasreelectedtothepostin2010.TsairanunsuccessfullyagainstEricChuoftheNationalistParty(Kuomintang,orKMT)formayorofNewTaipeiCity,andshealsolostthe2012presidentialraceagainstincumbentMaYing-jeou.Despitethosesetbacks,Tsaiwasseenasarespectableandelectablecandidate.HerpopularityonlyincreasedduringthesecondMaadministrationastheKMT-dominatedgovernmentbecamemiredincorruptionandineptitude.TsaiIng-wen©glenphoto/Shutterstock.comTsaihadresignedtheDPPleadershipin2012forherpresidentialrun,butshewasreelectedpartypresidentin2014.ThepartyagainnominatedTsaiasitscandidateforthe2016presidentialelection.HercampaignfocusedonthepoorgoverningperformanceoftheKMT,thatparty’sincreasinglycordialrelationswithChina,andthecontinuedpoorperformanceofTaiwan’seconomy.OnJanuary16,2016,shesoundlydefeatedChu,andshewasinauguratedonMay20.InadditiontobeingTaiwan’sfirstwomanpresident,TsaiwasthesecondpersontowinthepresidencywhowasnotamemberoftheKMT.Inaddition,followinginthefootstepsofLeeTeng-hui,shewasthesecondpersonwithancestryinoneofTaiwan’sethnicminorities(Hakka)toattainthatoffice.Followinghervictory,shesoughttoassureaconcernedChinathatshewouldmaintaincordialrelationswiththemainland. 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SubscribeNow InDecember2016thedelicatebalanceofTaiwan-ChinarelationswasdisturbedwhenTsaiplacedatelephonecalltoU.S.President-electDonaldTrump,whooverturnedseveraldecadesofdiplomaticprotocolbybecomingthefirstU.S.chiefexecutivetospeakwithhisTaiwanesecounterpartsince1979.Theirconversationappearedtobeliethelong-standingabsenceofformaldiplomaticrelationsbetweenTaiwanandtheUnitedStates,promptingChinatomakeaformalcomplainttotheU.S.government.AlthoughTsaiandTrumpwouldlatersaythattheircalldidnotindicateapolicyshift,by2019theTrumpadministrationhadcommittedtomajorarmssalestoTaiwanthatincluded,tanks,missiles,andjetfighters.Taiwan’seconomygrewslowlyunderTsai’sstewardship,butin2019itwasrobustenoughtohaveachievedgreatergrowththanthatofregionalcompetitorsSouthKoreaandHongKong.Still,wagegainswereminimal,andwealthinequalitygrew.HavingchampionedunpopularreformstoTaiwan’senergyandpensionpolicies,Tsaiwitnessedaconsiderabledropinherpopularityasthe2020presidentialelectionapproached.HerstrongcommitmenttoTaiwan’sindependenceandsovereigntyresonatedloudlywithTaiwanesevoters,however,astheywatchedhugethrongsofpro-democracydemonstratorsinHongKongpushbackformonthsagainsttheimpositionofincreasinglyauthoritarianrulebyBeijing.IntheJanuary2020election,TsaiwonasecondtermbytrouncingherKMTopponent,HanKuo-yu,whoadvocatedgreaterengagementwithChina.Whentheresultsweretabulated,some57percentofthetotalvotehadgonetoTsai,about39percenttoHan,andlittlemorethan4percenttoJamesSoong,thestandard-bearerforthePeopleFirstParty.Shortlyaftertheelection,theCOVID-19globalpandemicextendeditsreachtoTaiwan,andTsaioversawthegovernment’saggressivecampaigntocombatthespreadofthedisease—whichiscausedbythecoronavirusSARS-CoV-2andthefirstcasesofwhichwerereportedinChinainDecember2019.Byemployingstringentbordercontrols,mandatoryquarantines,rigorouscontacttracing,andmaskwearing,Taiwanlargelyheldthevirusatbay.However,beginninginMay2021,infectionratesbrieflyspikedasaresultoftheappearanceofthehighlycontagiousDeltavariantofthevirus,andlatertheratesclimbedsignificantlyhigherwiththearrivaloftheOmicronvariant.Nevertheless,byJune2022Taiwanhadshiftedtoa“livingwiththevirus”approach,asmorethan80percentofTaiwanesehadbeenfullyvaccinatedandmorethan60percenthadalsoreceivedboostershots.Althoughthepandemichadwreakedhavocontheeconomiesofmanycountries,TsaicouldboastthatthesamewasnottrueforTaiwan.Asoneoftheworld’sleadingproducersofsemiconductors,Taiwanmadethemostoftheworldwideshifttoworkingathomeandtheincreasedneedforlaptopcomputers,anditsGDPincreasedby3percentin2020.ThatincreasemarkedthefirsttimeinsomethreedecadesthatTaiwan’sannualeconomicgrowthoutstrippedthatofChina.Allthewhile,Chinawasengagedinanever-increasingmilitarybuildupthatseemedtoheightenTaiwan’sriskofbeinginvaded.Inresponse,Taiwanincreaseditsowndefensespending,butthe$17billionitdedicatedtothemilitaryin2022andthe$8.6billionitplannedtospendondefenseoverthenextfiveyearswasdwarfedbyChina’smassiveoutlay.MilitarysupportcontinuedtocomefromtheUnitedStatesintheformofarmssales,andJoeBiden,thenewU.S.president,saidmorethanoncethattheU.S.wouldcometoTaiwan’saidiftheislandwereattackedbyChina,thoughhisapparentabandonmentoftheU.S.policyofstrategicambiguitywaswalkedbackeachtimebyWhiteHouseofficials,whoclarifiedthatU.S.policyregardingTaiwanhadnotchanged. NewfromBritannica Centuriesago,peopleinSoutheastAsiadevelopedafermentedfishsaucecalledke-tchup.BritishtradersbroughtthesaucetoEngland,wherevariationsweremadeusingingredientslikemushroomsandwalnuts,untiltomatoprevailedinthe19thcentury. SeeAllGoodFacts TensionsinU.S.-ChinarelationswereratchetedupinAugust2022whenU.S.SpeakeroftheHouseNancyPelosivisitedTaiwantomeetwithTsaiand,shesaid,toshowsupportforTaiwan’sdemocracy.China’sgovernmenthadvehementlywarnedagainstPelosi’svisittotheisland,thefirstbyaU.S.electedofficialofherstatureinsome25years,whichChinaviewedasprovocativelyenhancingtheinternationalstatusofTaiwan’sgovernment.KennethPletcherTheEditorsofEncyclopaediaBritannica