Asia

Change Possible, Not Guaranteed With Taiwan's First Female President

The relations between China and Taiwan could change after the island nation's former opposition party was elected to office.

Change Possible, Not Guaranteed With Taiwan's First Female President
Getty Images / Ulet Ifansasti
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Taiwan just elected its first female president.

Tsai Ing-wen is from the Democratic Progressive Party, or the former opposition party. And that naturally brings up questions about Taiwan's relationship with China moving forward.

Taiwan isn't recognized everywhere as its own country — mainly because of its Chinese neighbor, which considers Taiwan a territory.

Both nations have had separate governments for more than 65 years, but China is Taiwan's biggest trade partner. (Video via Al Jazeera)

The former political party in control was pro-China and has encouraged economic ties for the past eight years. (Video via CCTV)

The DPP says it wants to reconfigure and prevent the island from becoming an official Chinese territory, though Tsai has insisted she won't mess with the diplomatic status quo.

As an East Asian politics professor from Davidson College told The New York Times: "Tsai Ing-wen doesn't want this to blow up. Washington doesn't want this to blow up; Beijing doesn't want this to blow up. So why should it blow up?"

Some other issues? DPP is also pro gay rights. If Taiwan legalized gay marriage, it would be the first Asian country to do so. (Video via CTI-TV)

An August poll conducted by Taiwan's government suggests that 71 percent of respondents support gay marriage. (Video via UDN)

And on top of many potential changes, we will likely be seeing more of Tsai's beloved cats.

This video includes images from Getty Images.