--- title: Tsai Ing-wen Is on the 2020 TIME 100 List description: Find out why Tsai Ing-wen is one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. canonical: https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888307/tsai-ing-wen/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-09-23T00:45:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-21T07:21:57.666Z og:title: Tsai Ing-wen: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 og:description: Find out why Tsai Ing-wen is on this year’s list og:url: https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888307/tsai-ing-wen/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68d4168bdf844c78/698a1252b21a9c4bc7504085/time-100-Tsai-Ing-wen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Tsai Ing-wen: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tsai Ing-wen: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020 twitter:description: Find out why Tsai Ing-wen is on this year’s list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68d4168bdf844c78/698a1252b21a9c4bc7504085/time-100-Tsai-Ing-wen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 23, 2020 # Tsai Ing-wen by Ted Cruz  Nhu Xuan Hua for TIME [President Tsai Ing-wen](https://time.com/5762023/tsai-ing-wen-preserve-taiwan-democracy/) is a signal lamp casting out China’s looming shadow, conveying to the world that Taiwan will not acquiesce to the Chinese Communist Party. While Taiwan stands a mere 100 miles from mainland China, under President Tsai’s leadership, it is neither adrift nor drawn in. Freedom is its North Star, which has been clear in the midst of the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://time.com/5805629/coronavirus-taiwan/). [Taiwan has proved that the virus can be ](https://time.com/collection/finding-hope-coronavirus-pandemic/5820596/taiwan-coronavirus-lessons/)controlled—without emulating [China’s drastic policies.](https://time.com/5778994/coronavirus-china-country-future/) When cynics said Taiwan was too small and too isolated to stand up against China’s regional ambitions, President Tsai stood tall. When China lured Taiwan’s allies into cutting off ties with the island nation, President Tsai was undeterred. I had the honor of meeting [President Tsai](https://time.com/5762629/taiwan-tsai-ing-wen-reelected/) last year during Taiwan’s National Day celebrations, and I witnessed firsthand how she stands up for the rights of Taiwan’s people. China is the world’s largest communist regime, and this self-made woman is determined to resist it. She does not cower. _Cruz is a Republican Senator from Texas_ [_Buy a print of TIME’s Tsai Ing-wen cover._](https://timecoverstore.com/featured/time-100-tsai-ing-wen-photograph-by-nhu-xuan-hua-for-time.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888307/tsai-ing-wen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888307/tsai-ing-wen/"},"headline":"Tsai Ing-wen","datePublished":"2020-09-23T00:45:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:57.666Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888307/tsai-ing-wen/","keywords":["TIME 100","T100 2020","T100 2020 Leaders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68d4168bdf844c78/698a1252b21a9c4bc7504085/time-100-Tsai-Ing-wen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68d4168bdf844c78/698a1252b21a9c4bc7504085/time-100-Tsai-Ing-wen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2020/5888307/tsai-ing-wen/","name":"Tsai Ing-wen"}}]}] ```