In Taiwan, a failed legislative recall effort will empower the opposition to press on with disruptive government reforms, risking unrest and stoking future tensions with the United States, though it will help prevent a near-term acceleration of (still slowly rising) tensions with China. On July 26, recall votes were held for 24 lawmakers from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) in localities across Taiwan. Despite significant grassroots engagement and late-stage support by the party organs of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), none of the recall votes passed. Taiwanese President William Lai of the DPP tried to spin his party's defeat as a win for democracy, calling the recall process an exercise of the Taiwanese people's legitimate constitutional rights. The legislature's minority leader, Ker Chien-ming -- also a DPP member and the progenitor of the so-called ''Great Recall'' movement -- said that the DPP must admit it failed. But Ker added that...
