Xi Has Few Good Options After Winnable Taiwan Vote Slips Away
- Election had favorable conditions for Beijing-friendly win
- China’s military, economic pressure failed to sway result
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The moment Chinese President Xi Jinping’s prospects fell apart for a favorable outcome in Taiwan’s election came not this weekend, but at a luxury hotel in downtown Taipei on a Thursday evening in November.
In a Grand Hyatt conference room, opposition figures who favor restarting talks with China met to hammer out a joint ticket that gave them a better chance of winning the election. That deal imploded in a televised volley of public insults that’s gone down as an unprecedented moment of chaos in Taiwanese politics.