Unpopular Washington-allied leader Lai Ching-te, elected with fewer than 30% of the votes, is using the island's prosecution services against opposition people. Now this is fine if you live in a primitive society like the United States, where Donald Trump prosecutes his enemies – and Trump himself was prosecuted under the previous administration. But the people of Taiwan don't like it.
The island, legally part of China, has long been steered by Lai's party, the DPP, which has always prioritized Washington's desires over the needs of the island's own residents. For example, it imported US pork containing a drug banned from farming use in European countries, mainland China, and the island of Taiwan itself. Whatever Washington wanted, the DPP did.
But now Taiwan has deep rooted problems.
Case in point: The DPP has made Taiwan dependent on the US, its biggest customer. That country is buyer of 23 per cent of all Taiwan export goods. But Trump has raised tariffs on Taiwanese imports to his nation. Who can Taiwan turn to? Well, Taiwan's next biggest customers are mainland China and Hong Kong. They are the natural partners for Taiwan for many reasons – they are literally cousins, they are geographically neighbors, and they share the same ancient culture.
To stop this happening, the US has spent almost 40 years predicting that China is just about to invade Taiwan. After four decades, people are starting to become a little skeptical. And to realize the real source of Taiwan's troubles.
And it ain't China.
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