Getting It Right Before 520: The Chang Ching-sen Case

Civil society must be part of the Tsai Ing-wen administration’s coalition. Alienating it at the outset is not a recommendable policy 

It’s about three weeks before the May 20 inauguration, and already the Tsai Ing-wen administration is in hot water. 

Sadly the wound is a self-inflicted one, what with Chang Ching-sen, a minister without portfolio to-be for the incoming administration, making inappropriate remarks this week about the Wenlin Yuan urban renewal project in Taipei’s Shilin District, a controversy that sparked rounds of protests by civic groups a few years ago. This is an early test for the Tsai administration. Here’s why it must handle it accordingly, and the damage that this could cause if it doesn’t do so could have far-reaching consequences. 

My article, published today in The News Lens International, continues here.