"The recent image of Tsai's firm stance to protect Taiwan's sovereignty as the president has gained a lot of people's support," Ian Tsung-yen Chen, an assistant professor at National Sun Yat-sen University, told the Nikkei Asian Review.
National Sun Yat-sen University's Chen said the developments in Hong Kong has triggered the sentiment of losing sovereignty in Taiwan. This, he said, has given the ruling DPP the upper hand against Kuomintang in the presidential campaign.
"Once the possibility of a country's survival battle emerges during the campaign, the sovereignty issue will trump the consideration of a country's economic interests," Chen said.