Ian Chen Tsung-yen, director of the Institute of Political Science at National Sun Yat-sen University inKaohsiung, said that for centrist voters who do not align themselves with a specific party, the internationalsituation may play a role in who they vote for. For example, he said, the 15% tariff the DPP administrationnegotiated with the U.S., down from 20%, "is beneficial to some traditional industries, and the strategicrelationship between Taiwan and Japan is warming up."
"These may shore up approval for the ruling team, and sway [voters] to support the candidates put out bythe ruling party," he added.
But Chen emphasized that world affairs and international relations have a limited impact on local politicsfor voters with clear political allegiances. He said that the popularity, constituency work and local image ofindividual candidates are considerably more important.