View: Beijing’s Best Bet in Taiwan Is a Firebrand Who Once Railed Against China

View: Beijing’s best bet in Taiwan is a firebrand who once railed against China

In the late 1980s, Taiwan was in turmoil: Martial law, imposed under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s White Terror, had recently been lifted and young protesters flooded the streets to demand democracy from the ruling Kuomintang. Cheng Li-wun was one of them.In one fiery speech, she lashed out at Taiwan’s “despicable rulers” who wanted to “squeeze and oppress the Taiwanese people.”At the time, I was the Reuters bureau chief in Taipei, and intervi…

Beijing's best bet in Taiwan is a firebrand who once railed against China

In the late 1980s, Taiwan was in turmoil: Martial law, imposed under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s White Terror, had recently been lifted and young protesters flooded the streets to demand democracy from the ruling Kuomintang. Cheng Li-wun was one of them. In one fiery speech, she lashed out at…