The people of Hong Kong may now have to wait years to vote after the city rejected Beijing’s offer of a castrated form of universal suffrage. [LINK: BY CONTRAST?]By contrast, the people of Taiwan, electoral eunuchs no more after a two-decade democratic evolution, will be going to the polls again in about six months. Their choice could be explosive. In all likelihood, January’s presidential election will result in a victory for Tsai Ing-wen, an opposition leader whom Beijing — and the US — has previously depicted as a dangerous splittist.
在否決了北京方面提供的「閹割」版普選方案後,香港民衆如今可能不得不再等待數年才能投票。相比之下,經過20年民主演進,不再是「閹割」版選民的臺灣民衆,將在約6個月後再次進行大選投票。他們的選擇可能是爆炸性的。十有八九,反對黨領導人蔡英文(Tsai Ing-wen)將在明年1月舉行的總統大選中獲勝。而北京(以及美國)曾將蔡描繪爲一個危險的分裂分子。