President Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan
It is interesting to note that the world is increasingly selecting women and educated leaders to lead the world. Such among leaders is the Tsai Ing- wen, the president of Taiwan. She is one of the most recognized and educated leaders and holds a Ph.D. in Trade from the London School of Economics. Tsai’s wise and effective leadership has created a brighter future for the people of Taiwan.
Tsai was born in 1956 in Taipei, Fangshan Township, Pingtung County, south of Taiwan. She grew up in a car repair workshop owned by her parents. Tsai’s family experience has instilled the spirit of small business: professional, dynamic, resilient, and hard-working.
Tsai was good at education and graduated from the National University of Taiwan with a Bachelor of Laws diploma in 1978. She then studied in the US and the UK, obtaining a Master of Laws degree from Cornell University Law School in 1980 and a Ph.D. in Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1984. She is specialized in international trade law and competition law. With his doctorate, Tsai joined the Chengchi State University. She served as an associate professor in the Department of Law at National Chengchi University (1984-1990), a professor at the Soochow University School of Law (1991-1993), and a professor in the Department of International Business at National Chengchi University (1993-2000).
Dr.Tsai began her tenure as part of Taiwan’s trade negotiation delegation in the late 1980s and served immensely in the negotiations in gaining admission to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). She was a firsthand witness to that milestone in the history of Taiwan’s economic transformation. Dr. Tsai regularly attended Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting and chaired the Group on Services (GOS) of the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI). In the late 1990s, Dr. Tasi served as the senior advisor to the councils of Mainland Affairs Council and National Security Council. She served as the Chairperson of the Mainland Affairs Council from 2000 to 2004, working to develop relations between the two countries.
Dr. Tsai joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2004 and became a DPP legislator at-large (2005-2006). Then, she served as the vice premier (2006-2007). She was subsequently elected Chair of the DPP. In 2012, Dr.Tsai represented the DPP in Taiwan’s 13th presidential election and became the first woman to run for the presidency. She ran again for the DPP in 2016 and was elected to the country’s 14th presidency, the first woman head of state in Taiwan’s history. She is also the first woman leader in Asia who was not born into a political family. Dr Tsai represented the DPP in the country’s 15th presidential election in 2020 and was successfully reelected with the strongest majority of votes in history. Dr. Tsai won election in 2020 with more than 57% of the popular vote.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s leadership reflects numerous economic gains and Taiwan’s well-being. Since taking office she has broken protocol by making advances to the U.S., creating tensions with mainland China, but achieving more economic gains to the country getting more opportunities in trade and economics from USA. Dr. Tsai’s leadership on COVID-19 is considered a global model and how she has acted and implemented prevention programs is impressive. “In December 2020, under Tsai’s leadership, Taiwan had gone more than 200 days without a locally acquired COVID-19 case, and the country had only 600 cases and seven deaths since the start of the pandemic”.
President Tsai’s economic strategies seem to be bringing economic growth in the country and were good enough to achieve a greater growth than that of regional competitors South Korea and Hong Kong. President Tsai pledged to make Taiwan an essential part of the world by boosting economic initiatives in the areas of biotechnology, defense, and green energy. Interestingly, she has won the heart of the young generation and they believe and follow her as a heroine. President Tsai exemplifies the importance of education, experience, and hard work. She is certainly a role model for women involved in politics.
