Taiwan Decides…For the Last Time?

One Decision

This weekend, Taiwan will hold the only free and fair elections in the Chinese-speaking world. Whoever wins will lead in a pivotal time—and their term will cover the period during which President Xi Jinping has promised China will annex what it considers a breakaway territory, even by force, if necessary. Could this be Taiwan’s last election? The incumbent Democratic Progressive Party led by Vice President Lai Ching Te is pro-independence, and is being challenged by the China-friendly opposition Kuomintang Party led by Ho Yu-Ih. There’s also a wildcard in the form of Ko Wen-Je, who says both parties are too pro or too anti-Beijing. One Decision—your Global Election Headquarters for 2024—sits down with correspondents in Taipei and Washington, DC to explore potential scenarios coming out of the Taiwanese polls and whether the United States can handle a third potential war, as it already struggles to support allies embroiled in major conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine. Pentagon correspondents also discuss the fallout over the secret hospitalization of America's Defense Chief Lloyd Austin and why top Defense Department officials and even the White House were kept in the dark about his condition.