Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, officially announced on Wednesday she would run in the "presidential" election next year. While the island could be on track for its first ever female leader, Tsai herself will have a major challenge to overcome, namely her "pro-independence" party's notorious image as a spoiler of cross-Straits relations.

Actually the 58-year-old party leader has already suffered defeat, as she lost to current Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang party in 2012. One of the main reasons for her defeat was the much-flawed cross-Straits policy of the DPP. If Tsai wants to win voters' confidence this time, she will have to convince them she has heeded the lesson of that defeat.

Although Tsai and her party may hope to carry on the momentum gained in defeating the ruling KMT in local city and county head elections in November last year, it is a totally different story when it comes to the island's leadership election. While local elections focus mainly on specific issues such as employment, housing and environment protection, voters will judge the "presidential" candidates through their capability to improve public welfare and maintain stability.