Last week Taiwan elected its first female president, with Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) securing56.2 percent of the votes in a sweeping victory over her competition. In addition to serving as Taiwan’s first female president, she also takes her place as the second candidate from the DPP to win the presidency since Taiwan’s decision to rule separately from China, in 1949. At the same time over the past few weeks, pre-existing political tensions between Beijing and Taiwan have surged – not because of Tsai Ing-wen’s likely victory as Taiwan’s next president, but because of 16-year-old Korean pop star named Chou Tzuyu. Chou Tzuyu, a Taiwanese member of the girl group Twice, came under fire recently for releasing a video where she held up two flags: Korea’s and the Republic of China’s – more commonly referred to as Taiwan. However, China’s Anhui Television station, where Twice planned to perform at China’s annual Spring Festival program, viewed Chou Tzuyu’s video as a declaration of Taiwan’s autonomy from China andcancelled their performance. The conflict between the pop star and Anhui television station may have remained under the radar until Chou Tzuyu released another video. This time, the singer is found repeatedly apologizing for her actions andstating, “There’s only one China. The two sides of the Taiwan Strait are one. I will always consider myself as a Chinese person and feel proud of this.” The video, released a day before the Taiwanese elections, sparked significant backlash from Taiwan’s pro-independence population, which viewed Chou’s apology as a symbol of Taiwan’s weakness. Although many believed Tsai Ing-wenthe likely victor of presidential elections, the response to Chou’s newest video garnered a second wave of support for the female candidate. As a member of the DPP, Tsai Ing-wen is a strong supporter of Taiwan’s independence and has long advocated for a stronger international recognition of Taiwan’s autonomy. Currently, Taiwan is not globally recognized as a nation and, as a result, has beendenied admittance to several multinational groups, such as the United Nations and Civil Aviation Organization. Taiwan’s electing of Tsai Ing-wen indicates a growing population of Taiwanese people who believe that Taiwan needs to assert its independence from China—a viewpoint that mayexacerbate tensions in cross-straight relations between China and Taiwan. Tsai Ing-wen has promised that despite her strong identification with Taiwan as a separate nation, she will maintain“status quo” cross-straight relations. With Chou’s noticeable absence from China’s Spring Festival program and Tsai Ing-wen’s newly acquired position of power in Taiwan, Taiwan’s newest leader will likely face significant obstacles in her push for recognition of sovereignty from the“one-China” position of Beijing. This article was written by Lizzy Leclaire. Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Chris on Flickr