Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

A referendum held in conjunction with local government elections on Saturday proposed lowering the voting age from 20 to 18. However, Central Election Commission (CEC) data showed that votes fell short of the threshold — almost 9.62 million “yes” votes needed to pass — as only 5.65 million voters backed the proposed constitutional amendment, while 5.02 million voters opposed it.

Prior to the results, the Taiwan Alliance for Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare, the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy and other civil groups had argued that if people face obligations such as paying taxes and compulsory military service at 18 years old, they should also be given the right to vote.

The US Department of Defense has identified four possible military courses of action that China could take against Taiwan, but did not offer any guess on when Beijing might be ready to act.

In an annual report to the US Congress released on Tuesday titled Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2022, the department gave a broad overview of China’s military capabilities, strategy, ambitions and intentions.

The report devoted significant space to developments related to Taiwan, against which it said China had intensified diplomatic, economic, political and military pressure last year.