TAIPEI Tsai Ing-wen's election victory on Jan. 16 made her not only the first female president in Taiwan's history, but the first female politician to rise so high in the Chinese-speaking world. And unlike most of her precursors in Asia, she made it without the benefit of a dynasty.
"Given Asia's very patriarchal culture and the fact that she did not come from a political family background, this is definitely a landmark," said Huang Chang-ling, an associate professor of politics at National Taiwan University.
