Taiwan marked three decades of electing its president directly, with former leader Tsai Ing-wen using the moment to warn that democracy there is still under pressure from China.

• Tsai said direct elections created more than a voting system — they created accountability, since every ballot both hands power to a leader and sets limits on it.
• She framed the 1996 vote as the moment Taiwan told the world its leaders are chosen by the people who live there, and that its future is theirs to decide.
• The main threat she named is China: military pressure, diplomatic isolation, economic coercion, disinformation, and infiltration aimed at Taiwan's right to choose its own path.
• She argued democracy can still slide backwards, and that it holds up only through independent courts, a free press, a professional government, and citizens who check facts and keep talking to each other.
• Taipei School of Economics and Political Science chairman Huang Huang-hsiung compared direct elections to a deep-rooted tree, pointing to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's failed martial law attempt in December 2024 as a reminder that democracy can be shaken fast.

Outlook: Expect Taiwan's debate over election integrity and foreign interference to stay front and center as the next presidential cycle approaches.