DPP's move undermines people's will in Taiwan, experts say

By rejecting an attempt to recall opposition lawmakers, voters in Taiwan have demonstrated that the Democratic Progressive Party's political manipulation goes against the will of the people, who simply want peace and communication, experts said.

The Chinese Kuomintang party scored a sweeping victory in Saturday's vote, retaining all 24 seats and thwarting a bid to reshape the balance of power in the local legislature in Taiwan, where the KMT and the Taiwan People's Party, a smaller opposition party, currently hold a narrow majority.

The 113-seat Taiwan legislature comprises 52 members from the KMT, 51 from the DPP, eight from the TPP and two independents.

The unprecedented vote, initiated by the "pro-independence "DPP, which held a legislative majority in Taiwan from 2016 to 2024, aimed at unseating opposition lawmakers in a bid to regain control of the legislature.

Before the vote, Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te claimed that the island is "a country", and he promoted anti-mainland sentiments in a planned 10-part series of speeches while touring Taiwan since June.

So far this year, the DPP has also greatly obstructed cross-Strait exchanges by targeting pro-mainland politicians, groups and individuals, including mainland residents who have married people from Taiwan.

Responding to the vote outcome, Chen Binhua, a spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Sunday that the DPP, driven by its pursuit of "Taiwan independence" and avarice for one-party monopoly, has repeatedly stirred up political strife at the expense of Taiwan people's well-being.

The DPP has resorted to every means to suppress political dissent, create "green terror" and deepen social division, fully revealing its hypocritical nature of "fake democracy, real authoritarianism", he said.

The failure of the recall vote targeting opposition lawmakers shows that the DPP's political manipulation runs against the will of the people, Chen added.

Xu Xiaoquan, a deputy researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Taiwan Studies, said the DPP authorities mistakenly believed that by inciting cross-Strait confrontation, they could rally so-called "unified will" on the island, but their attempt to manipulate public opinion has strongly backfired.

The Taiwan people simply desire to live peaceful and prosperous lives, Xu said. However, since taking office, the Lai administration has manipulated the "two-state" fallacy, vigorously restricting cross-Strait exchanges, he said, adding that such moves have caused unbearable suffering among the people, who have long been fed up with the DPP's arrogance and irresponsibility.

Hsiao Hsu-tsen, executive director of the Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation based in Taiwan, said that people in Taiwan have shown wisdom at the critical moment by rejecting the DPP's approaches, which could have divided society and harmed Taiwan's interests.