Taiwan has been holding elections only for a couple of decades, as before they were an authoritarian state under martial law. But the Taiwanese have embraced democracy. The President-elect of last week’s interview has said he would like to visit the US, something China would not like, as they try to diplomatically isolate Taiwan because it says Taiwan is a renegade province, not a state. At the same time, China encourages actions that make Taiwan more dependent on China. still Taiwan has been like this for almost 60 years, and China reserves the right to attack if Taiwan moves closer towards independence, just as the US reserves the right to then come to Taiwan’s defense. So who’s in the White House matters to Taiwanese. This professor says Taiwanese policy wonks have traditionally preferred the GOP candidates. The professor still thinks Republican candidates are better because they’ll sell Taiwan more military weapons and supplies, but he thinks a Democrat would be better because they would be more focused on human rights and ordinary Taiwanese like the Democrats more too. Outside this coffee shop, this 22 year old woman says Obama’s attitude and image is better. This computer programmer says Clinton would get his vote. Strategically speaking, this professor says it would be better if the US president is not from the same party as the party that controls the Senate and House. Taiwanese have been fascinated in general in the election, for observing the workings of democracy.
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