Unpaywalled link: https://web.archive.org/web/20240114053659/https://www.afr.com/world/asia/taiwan-s-vote-is-a-crack-in-the-new-axis-of-autocracy-20240114-p5ex2n

The Taiwan election said two things. First, the 23 or so million people of Taiwan are deeply committed to the liberal democratic political system. They don’t want communism and they don’t want to be subsumed into a dictatorship.

There were, of course, the usual array of local domestic political issues which influenced voters on Saturday, such as the cost of living and access to affordable housing. But the fact that they embraced with such vigour the democratic process only highlights the great political and ideological gulf that exists with the communist dictatorship of Xi Jinping.