Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen’s National Day address—Monday marks the 105th birthday of the Republic of China—was remarkable in the issues that it foregrounded. What was notable, in fact, was how utterly quotidian Taiwan’s first female leader’s remarks were. The large majority of the recently inaugurated president’s speech could easily have been delivered by the leader of just about any other industrialized, democratic power. Indeed, its very ordinariness is cause for great encouragement about the state of the small island nation.
The lion’s share of Tsai’s speech dealt with economics. The issues besetting Taiwan are familiar to many in the developed world: High housing costs; diminishing opportunities for young people; an overly burdened pension system. And so Tsai pledged to build “80,000 [housing] units within the next four years,” “create quality job opportunities for young people,” and enact pension reforms.
It was only towards the end of her address that Tsai addressed Cross-Strait relations—which have deteriorated markedly since she took office. Tsai “[reiterated] the immovable position of the new government, and that is to establish a consistent, predictable and sustainable cross-strait relationship, and to maintain both Taiwan’s democracy and the status quo of peace across the Taiwan Strait.” Further, she “[called] upon the authorities of mainland China to face up to the reality that the Republic of China exists, and that the people of Taiwan have an unshakable faith in the democratic system. ” Important sentiments, though their placement in the speech—towards the end—as well as their brevity compared to the economic portion of the address suggests that they were not the speech’s focal point.
It can be easy to forget the remarkable strain that Taiwan endures. Largely diplomatically isolated, lacking U.N. member status, and living under the threat of a nuclear armed, 1.3-billion strong military dictatorship, the island of only 23 million people is forever in a precarious position. Yet on the ground it’s an utterly “normal” country—prosperous, democratic, well-functioning, friendly. That its president could deliver a standard-issue National Day speech dwelling on matters like housing and pensions is in itself a triumph.
