Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen Balances China and U.S.

“Here’s this leader of Taiwan, seven years into her tenure under unrelenting daily pressure and coercion, and she was optimistic and funny, and connecting with her American audience like a skilled politician,” he said.

When Ms. Tsai stepped in to lead her Democratic Progressive Party in 2008, she had little competition for the post. The party was reeling from an election defeat and a corruption investigation into former President Chen Shui-bian. Ms. Tsai calmed the mood and built support by managing the need for resources with a new, grass-roots fund-raising campaign.

She had to work on campaigning, which in Taiwan involves large rallies with speeches set to dramatic music. “She could not speak fluent Taiwanese at first and did not know when she should step on the stage,” recalled Liu Chien-hsin, a longtime aide to Ms. Tsai, referring to the language spoken alongside Mandarin across the island.

She found her own style, leveraging social media and looking to Taiwan’s youth to connect more broadly. In ads, she posed with her cat, Think Think, driving a mini-trend of pet politics.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/world/asia/taiwan-president-tsai-ing-wen.html