Tsai Ing-wen (Chinese: 蔡英文; pinyin: Cài Yīngwén; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the 7th president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024.

In 1993, she was appointed to a series of governmental positions by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party and was one of the chief drafters of the special state-to-state relations doctrine under President Lee Teng-hui.

In April 2011, Tsai became the first woman to be nominated by a major party as a presidential candidate in the history of Taiwan after defeating her former superior, Su Tseng-chang, in the DPP's primary election by a slight margin.

[24] In Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou's search for his running mate for the 2008 ROC presidential election, Tsai, a DPP member, was surprisingly suggested.

[30] On 25 April 2010, Tsai participated in a televised debate against President and Kuomintang chairman Ma Ying-jeou over a proposed trade agreement, the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA); while President Ma believed ECFA would increase Taiwanese exports to mainland China and lower unemployment rates, Tsai said it "will force Taiwan to open up for cheap Chinese exports eventually" and certain domestic industries will be harmed by the mainland trade invasion.

[47] On 27 April 2011, Tsai became the first female presidential candidate in Taiwan after she defeated former Premier Su Tseng-chang by a small margin in a nationwide phone poll (of more than 15,000 samples) that served as the party's primary.

[1] Tsai ran against incumbent President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang and James Soong of the People First Party in the 5th direct presidential election, which was held on 14 January 2012.

[52][53] During summer of 2015, Tsai embarked on a visit to the United States and met a number of US policy makers including Senators John McCain and Jack Reed.

[54] In her speech addressing Taiwanese diaspora on the east coast of the United States, Tsai signaled a willingness to cooperate with the rising Third Party coalition in Taiwan in the incoming general election.

[65] In her second inauguration speech, Tsai outlined her major goals in her second term, including instituting a lay judge system, lowering the voting age from 20 to 18, and establishing a human rights commission under the Control Yuan.

[73] On 29 June 2020, Tsai announced measures to shore up Taiwan's military reserves, including assigning them the same combat gear as active servicemembers and synchronization of mobilization.

[77] On 11 March 2022, a special force soldier wrote to Tsai, reporting that insufficient supply and logistical planning compelled combatants to purchase equipment from outside suppliers at their own expense for two years.

When questioned by members of the Legislative Yuan, Chiu clarified that he was disgusted by what he considered cowardly behavior, and that the soldier's critiques were unfair to the preparatory staff.

[95]: 66 In January 2019, Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), wrote an open letter to Taiwan, proposing a one country, two systems formula for eventual unification.

[96] During her second inauguration speech, Tsai rejected one country, two systems explicitly again and reaffirmed her previous stance that cross-strait exchanges should be held on the basis of parity between the two sides.

[98][99] On August 28, 2020, the Tsai administration lifted a ban on leaning agent ractopamine, clearing the way for U.S. pork imports and removing a major hurdle for bilateral trade talks between Taiwan and the United States.

[112] The plan also included emissions controls, the creation of a regulatory agency, mandatory reserve margins (waived for start-up green energy companies), and measures for price stabilization.

[128] On 1 January 2017, the amended Labor Standards Law (commonly referred to as 一例一休 pinyin: Yīlì yīxiū),[129] which was passed on 6 December 2016 by the legislature,[130] took effect.

The Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng responded by asking Chen to speak Mandarin to allow for easier communication, and would not lengthen the session to accommodate the interpretive service, after which the exchange became heated.

[149] The 18 countries the New Southbound Policy targeted for increased cooperation are: Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Australia and New Zealand.

[164][165] Following the ruling, progress on implementing a same-sex marriage law was slow due to government inaction and strong opposition from some conservative people and Christian groups.

[166] In November 2018, the Taiwanese electorate passed referendums to prevent recognition of same-sex marriages in the Civil Code and to restrict teaching about LGBT issues.

The act sought to rectify injustices committed by the authoritarian Kuomintang government of the Republic of China on Taiwan, and to this end established the Transitional Justice Commission to investigate actions taken from 15 August 1945, the date of the Hirohito surrender broadcast, to 6 November 1992, when president Lee Teng-hui lifted the Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion for Fuchien Province, Republic of China, ending the period of mobilization.

The committee's main aims include: making political archives more readily available, removing authoritarian symbols, redressing judicial injustice, and producing a report on the history of the period which delineates steps to further promote transitional justice.

She believed that broad consultations should be held at all levels of Taiwanese society to decide the basis on which to advance negotiations with Beijing, dubbed the "Taiwan consensus".

[199] Tsai has accused the Communist Party of China's troll army of spreading fake news via social media to influence voters and support candidates more sympathetic to Beijing ahead of the 2018 Taiwanese local elections.

[200][201][202] In January 2019, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), had announced an open letter to Taiwan proposing a one country, two systems formula for eventual unification.

Pledging that as long as she was Taiwan's president, she would never accept "one country, two systems", Tsai cited what she considered to be the constant and rapid deterioration of Hong Kong's democracy over the course of 20 years.

She favours government action to reduce unemployment, introducing incentives for entrepreneurship among youth, expanding public housing, and government-mandated childcare support.

[204][205]Tsai advocated for the non-partisanship of the president of the Legislative Yuan, the increase in the number of "at-large" seats in the legislature, the broadening of participation among all political parties and interest groups.