袁莉2026年10月22日苏巧慧在台湾竞选市长。台湾女性在立法机构中占据42%的席位，这一比例在亚洲居首，与北欧国家相当。 Lam Yik Fei for The New York TimesThe United States view of Taiwan is often through the lens of a possible conflict with China or its dominance in advanced chip manufacturing. But behind the silicon shield is a vibrant democracy of 23 million people that was the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage and had a voter turnout of over 70 percent in its 2024 presidential election.美国看待台湾的视角往往聚焦于与中国的潜在冲突，或是台湾在先进芯片制造领域的霸主地位。但在硅盾之后，是一个拥有2300万人口、充满活力的民主政体，在亚洲，它率先实现了同性婚姻合法化，在其2024年的总统选举中选民投票率超过了70%。It has also been running one of the world’s longest experiments in political affirmative action.台湾还一直在进行世界上持续时间最长的政治平权行动试验之一。For decades, Taiwan has used quotas and reserved seats to bring women into electoral politics. Today its political representation by women is among the highest in the world, and, as new research suggests, few of them were ultimately elected based on quotas.几十年来，台湾一直利用配额和保留席位将女性引入选举政治。如今，台湾女性在政治领域的代表比例位居世界前列，而且正如新的研究表明的那样，其中很少有人最终是凭借配额当选的。Women hold 42 percent of Taiwan’s legislative seats, the highest share in Asia and comparable to Nordic countries. It elected its first female president in 2016 and re-elected her four years later. It has also elected two female vice presidents since 2000.女性占据了台湾立法机构42%的席位，这一比例为亚洲最高，与北欧国家相当。它在2016年选出了首位女性总统，她在四年后连任。自2000年以来，台湾还选出了两位女性副总统。“People often argue that elections should simply be about choosing the best and most capable,” said Chang-Ling Huang, a professor at National Taiwan University who has studied gender politics for more than 20 years. Taiwan’s experience shows that “gender quotas are precisely what allow a society to truly elect the best and the most capable.”“譬如说很多人讲说要选贤与能，”国立台湾大学研究性别政治20多年的黄长玲教授表示。台湾的经验表明，“因为妇女保障名额，所以你才能真正地选贤与能”。“Otherwise,” Ms. Huang added, “patriarchal systems simply exclude qualified women from the race.”“不然的话，”黄长玲还说，“父权的体制就会把贤能的女人排除在外面。”Since the 1990s, a trend of gender quotas in elections has spread around the globe, with more than 130 countries, including more than two dozen in Europe, introducing constitutional, electoral or political party quotas for women in elections, according to data from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an intergovernmental organization.根据政府间组织民主和选举援助国际研究所的数据，自20世纪90年代以来，选举中的性别配额趋势已席卷全球，包括欧洲20多个国家在内的130多个国家在选举中为女性设立了宪法、选举法或政党层面的配额。新北市市长候选人苏巧慧的一张竞选海报。随着台湾为11月下旬的地方选举做准备，女性候选人的海报在岛上随处可见。But Taiwan’s approach began much earlier. In 1946, the Republic of China passed a Constitution that reserved seats for women in elections, a result of a women’s movement that dated back to the 1920s and the influence of socialism in the country, said Ms. Huang, the political scientist. When the Nationalist government was defeated in the civil war and moved to Taiwan in 1949, the quotas, set at 5 to 10 percent, were followed in local elections even though the Constitution was largely suspended during the next decades of authoritarian rule.但台湾的做法起源要早得多。政治学家黄长玲表示，1946年，中华民国通过了一部为女性保留选举席位的宪法，这是可以追溯至20世纪20年代的女性运动以及当时社会思潮影响的结果。1949年国民政府在内战中战败并迁至台湾后，即使宪法在接下来的几十年威权统治期间大部分处于被冻结状态，但地方选举中仍遵循了这一设定为5%至10%的配额制度。As Taiwan began to democratize in 1987, some feminist organizations worried that quotas could send a message that women were incapable of winning elections on their own merits. But they ultimately decided to lean into quotas. They fought for and succeeded in getting four rounds of major quota reforms over the next few decades.随着台湾在1987年开始民主化，一些女权组织担心配额可能会传递出女性无法凭自身能力赢得选举的信息。但她们最终决定顺应配额制。在接下来的几十年里，她们为推动配额改革而奋斗，并成功促成了四轮重大配额改革。A law that took effect in 2002 guarantees women a seat in local council districts electing four or more members. If, say, four men received the highest numbers of votes for a four-person council, the fourth seat would go to the female candidate with the most votes, regardless of party affiliations. So the law created an incentive for all political parties to recruit and nominate female candidates. In 2030, the quota will go up to one in three, and will be gender neutral. It means that in every three seats there must be at least one woman and one man.2002年生效的一项法律规定，在选出四名或四名以上议员的地方议会选区中，需确保女性获得一个席位。例如，如果一个四席议会中得票最高的四名候选人均为男性，那么第四个席位将由得票最多的女性候选人获得，不论其党派背景如何。因此，该法律激励了所有政党去招募和提名女性候选人。到2030年，该配额将提高到三分之一，并将实行性别中立。这意味着每三个席位中必须至少有一名女性和一名男性。After studying data sets from six election cycles from 2002 to 2022, Ms. Huang found that female candidates became very competitive over time. The number of electoral districts that needed to activate a reserved seat dropped from 31 in 2002 to just four in 2022.在研究了2002年至2022年六个选举周期的数据库后，黄长玲发现，随着时间的推移，女性候选人的竞争力显著增强。需要启用保留席位的选区数量从2002年的31个降至2022年的仅四个。Now women rarely need reserved seats to get elected, but the existence of those seats remains crucial to securing party nominations. “They serve as a safeguard, even when they go unused,” Ms. Huang said.如今，女性候选人很少需要依靠保留席位才能当选，但这些席位的存在对于确保获得政党提名仍然至关重要。“即使没有用到，它们也起到了一种保障作用，”黄长玲说。What if Taiwan had never adopted gender quotas? A redo of history isn’t possible, of course, but Japan provides a fairly good comparison. Women in both Japan and the Republic of China won their suffrage right after the World War II. And Taiwan’s election system resembles Japan’s. But Japan never reserved seats for women, and today women hold only 15 percent of seats in Parliament. (Women make up 28 percent of the U.S. Congress, which puts the country 84th in a global ranking of the percentage of women in national legislatures.)如果台湾从未采用性别配额会怎样？当然，历史无法重来，但日本提供了一个相当好的对比。日本和中华民国的女性都是在二战后获得了选举权。而且台湾的选举制度与日本相似。但日本从未为女性保留席位，如今女性在国会中仅占15%的席位。（美国国会中女性占比为28%，在全球各国立法机构女性比例排名中位列第84位。）中国国家主席习近平出席全国人民代表大会闭幕式。中国全国人大代表中女性约占四分之一，这一比例自20世纪70年代以来几乎没有变化。Women make up about a quarter of China’s Parliament, a percentage that has barely moved since 1970s. In Xi Jinping’s third term as China’s leader, there’s not a single woman in the Communist Party’s Politburo, breaking a tradition of more than two decades. In the party’s 77 years ruling the country, no woman has ever been appointed to the Standing Committee, the pinnacle of C.C.P. power. The government under Mr. Xi has systematically tightened restrictions on feminist advocacy and movements like #MeToo.在中国的全国人民代表大会中，女性约占四分之一，自20世纪70年代以来，这一比例几乎没有变化。在习近平作为中国领导人的第三个任期内，中共中央政治局中没有一位女性，打破了20多年来的传统。在共产党执政的77年中，从未有女性被任命为中共最高权力机构中央政治局的常务委员。习近平领导下的政府系统性地收紧了对女权倡导和#MeToo等运动的限制。The biggest impact of the quota system in Taiwan is that it made women in political office ordinary rather than extraordinary, Ms. Huang said.黄长玲表示，台湾配额制度最大的影响是让女性担任公职变得司空见惯，而不是凤毛麟角。With Taiwan gearing up for local elections in late November, giant campaign posters of female candidates seem to be everywhere on the island, especially in big cities.随着台湾为11月下旬的地方选举做准备，女性候选人的巨幅竞选海报似乎遍布全岛，尤其是在大城市。Su Chiao-hui is running as the mayoral candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in New Taipei City, a metropolitan ring of more than four million residents that surrounds the capital city, Taipei, and is a stronghold of the opposition Nationalist Party (K.M.T.).苏巧慧作为执政的民进党候选人正在竞选新北市市长，新北市是一个拥有400多万居民、环绕首都台北的大都会圈，也是在野党中国国民党的大本营。It’s a high-stakes election, and Ms. Su, 50, a three-term legislator representing a district in the city, is running against Lee Shu-chuan, a 68-year-old political veteran whose English name is Hammer.这是一场利害攸关的选举，50岁的苏巧慧曾三度当选新北市一个选区的立法委员，她正与68岁的政坛老将李四川展开角逐。苏巧慧在台湾板桥进行竞选活动。尽管女性在选举政治中的代表性日益提高，但台湾的性别刻板印象和厌女现象并未因此消除。Ms. Su’s party emphasizes Taiwan’s distinct identity while Mr. Lee’s party has historically tied its identity in the Republic of China that was founded in mainland in 1912. But in this local race, campaigns are intensely personal and practical. Candidates meet voters face to face and make their case on housing, child care, transportation and other everyday issues.苏巧慧所在的政党强调台湾独特的身份认同，而李四川所在的政党在历史上将其身份认同与1912年在中国大陆成立的中华民国联系在一起。但在这次地方选举中，竞选极具个人色彩和务实性。候选人与选民面对面接触，就住房、托育、交通和其他日常议题阐述主张。Ms. Su’s campaign embraces a feminine, maternal image — she hosts a children’s storytelling podcast — suggesting that she is comfortable with that side of herself and believes voters are, too.苏巧慧的竞选展现出一种充满女性色彩和母性的形象——她主持着一个儿童故事的播客——这表明她对自己的这一面感到自在，并相信选民也是如此。Her campaign office has a vibe of a children’s activity room, with pastel blocks, oversize pink lettering and cheerful cartoon figures of “Otter Mom,” her podcast. She hopes the persona projects an approachable, family-friendly image targeted at younger voters and parents who value education.她的竞选办公室洋溢着儿童活动室的氛围，摆着柔和色彩的积木，装饰着巨大的粉红色字样和她的播客节目“水獭妈妈”中欢快的卡通形象。她希望这一形象能展现出一种平易近人、家庭友好的姿态，吸引重视教育的年轻选民和家长。The rising women’s representation in electoral politics has not erased gender stereotypes and misogyny in Taiwan.尽管女性在选举政治中的代表性日益提高，但台湾的性别刻板印象和厌女并未因此消失。Yu-Yu Liu, an activist turned township head in central rural Taiwan, said that when she first ran for the office four years ago, many voters told her that, at 35, she was too young. Then almost in the same breath they would comment that she needed to hurry up to get married. She sometimes felt subtly isolated at traditional political networking gatherings where older men drank and smoked.刘育育从活动人士转型为台湾中部农村乡长，她说四年前她第一次参选时，许多选民告诉她，35岁的她太年轻了。紧接着，他们几乎不假思索地就说她得赶紧结婚。在年长男性抽烟喝酒的传统政治社交聚会上，她有时会有一种微妙的受孤立感。2016年，台湾首位女总统蔡英文。她曾遭受许多针对女性的攻击，还有一位对手称她为命苦的女人。Even Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s first female president, endured many misogynistic attacks. An opponent called her an ill-fated woman. She was questioned over her qualifications to understand parental issues because she’s a single, childless woman (who raised two cats and five dogs during her presidency). After her party suffered a huge defeat in the 2018 local elections, some people questioned whether she would be a one-term president.即便是台湾首位女总统蔡英文也遭遇过许多带有厌女色彩的攻击。一位对手称她为命苦的女人。因为她单身且没有子女（在任期间养了两只猫和五只狗），她甚至被质疑是否有资格理解家长的问题。在她的政党于2018年地方选举中惨败后，有些人质疑她是否只能任职一届。“I told myself,” she said in a recent meeting at her office, “as the first female president, I can’t fail.” She was re-elected two years later.“我告诉自己，”前不久，她在办公室的一次会面中说，“第一次女性当总统，我不能把它当垮。”两年后，她成功连任。袁莉为《纽约时报》撰写“新新世界”专栏，专注中国及亚洲科技、商业和政治交叉议题。翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。