The Democratic Progressive Party: Self-regulation of Secessionist Rhetoric

Ever since the formation of the Democratic Progressive Party in 1986, the party campaigned on Taiwanese nationalism and de jure independence. It was the party in Taiwan known for its unwavering stance in the “One China Policy”: it recognizes itself as the sole legitimate China. In light of the 2016 presidential elections, the DPP lead by Tsai Ing-Wen changed their usual secessionist rhetoric towards China to one that is much more moderate in stance. Tsai Ing-Wen has pledged to “maintain the cross-strait status quo”, a sharp contrast in opinion for the party. How can this change be explained? Is the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan self-regulating its language? What is the DPP self-regulating in response to? This study will look at whether the pressure is coming internally from the constituency or externally from China\u27s military and economic pressure