Tsai breaks gender barriers as Taiwan’s first female president

X: Tsai Ing-wen, the presidential candidate of Taiwan’s main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), campaigning ahead of the presidential election in Tainan’s southern city of Tainan. — AFP

Taipei: Taiwan’s president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (pic) has not only broken the gender barrier to win the highest office in the land – she is the first woman without political lineage in Asia to head a government.

This was made possible as laws were introduced in 2002 to enforce gender equity and equality in schools and workplaces here, making it easier for Taiwanese women to climb the ranks, say analysts.