Taiwan's character of the year a vote against confrontation

The recent results of the character of the year in Taiwan and across the Taiwan Strait reflect mainstream public sentiment of opposition to confrontation within Taiwan society and recognition of broader historical trends, experts said.

On Wednesday, the Chinese character "ba", meaning "dismiss", was chosen as Taiwan's 2025 Character of the Year, securing more than 15,000 votes out of over 78,000 cast for 60 candidate characters.

The character is associated with two rounds of large-scale recall campaigns carried out in July and August on the island. Initiated by the Democratic Progressive Party authorities, the recall votes targeting 31 "legislators" from the Chinese Kuomintang party and the suspended mayor of Hsinchu ultimately failed.

Ko Chih-en, a KMT party member who nominated the character, said the "mass recall" movement had pushed Taiwan into deeper division, expressing hope that "hatred-driven mobilization will no longer destroy Taiwan's future and hope".

Ou Kuei-chih, a high school teacher who also recommended the character, said the recall campaign had torn Taiwan society apart, while empowering those long suppressed by "Taiwan independence" forces to speak their minds.

The poll, now in its 18th year, ran from Nov 13 to Dec 8 and was organized by Taiwan's United Daily News. The characters for "fraud" and "flood" placed second and third, respectively.

On Tuesday, the character "shi", meaning "trend" or "momentum", was named the 2025 Cross-Strait Character of the Year at an event in Taipei. In the online poll organized by Taiwan-based Want Want China Times Media Group and the Fujian-based Xiamen Daily, "shi" received 1.28 million votes out of a total of 15.82 million for the 36 candidate characters.

Xie Qingguo, a professor at Xiamen University's School of Journalism and Communication who recommended the character, said in a video message at the event that "promoting peaceful cross-Strait development is an unstoppable trend and the prevailing momentum".

According to the organizers, the character signified the direction of historical development and the historical consciousness embedded in the evolution of cross-Strait relations, accurately capturing mainstream sentiment on both sides of the Strait.

Chen Binhua, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Thursday that peace remained the shared aspiration of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, stressing that "reunification is the only path forward for Taiwan".

He also criticized the current island leader Lai Ching-te as "the instigator of tensions and turbulence in the Taiwan Strait" and "the primary source of division within Taiwan society".

Xinhua contributed to this story.