Forum: Reaching Out, Pulling In

In January 2016, Taiwanese voters ushered in a new era when they elected Tsai Ing-wen 蔡英文 from the Democratic Progressive Party 民進黨 (DPP) as their President. Ending eight years of Kuomintang (KMT) rule under Ma Ying-jeou 馬英九 (2008–2016), voters were emphatic: Tsai came to power in a landslide, and the Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) won a majority in the legislature for the first time.

The year in Hong Kong was marked by interventions from Beijing to extend its control over the Special Administrative Region and expressions of dissent led by pro-democracy and localist groups — a continuing legacy of the post-Umbrella Movement 雨傘運動 era. At stake is whether the authoritarian regime in Beijing can suppress dissent in the territory while preserving the framework of the rule of law and civil liberties promised in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The result appears to be a neverending game of whack-a-mole, with Beijing smacking down every act of resistance on a case-by-case basis. However, there are also signs that Beijing is increasingly inclined to solve the problem by dispensing with the rule of law and civil liberties altogether.