William Lai Ching-tey of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the election.Image Credit source: AFP
Despite China’s warnings, William Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has won Taiwan’s presidential election. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and had to vote them out. After Lai was declared the winner of Saturday’s vote, Beijing said the DPP does not represent mainstream public opinion. He said the vote “will not hinder the inevitable trend of China’s reunification.”
Current Vice President Lai was in a three-way race with Hou Yu-ih from the conservative Kuomintang (KMT) and former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je from the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), which was only founded in 2019. According to partial results from the Central Election Commission on Saturday, Lai got 40.2 percent of the votes.
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Rival Hou accepted defeat and congratulated Lai on his victory. He also apologized to KMT supporters for not being able to remove the DPP and also accepted defeat. “I want to thank the people of Taiwan for writing a new chapter in our democracy,” Lai said in his victory speech.
Victory of democracy amidst totalitarianism-Lai Ching-te
Today, #Taiwan has once again shown the world our people’s commitment to democracy. @bikhim & I am grateful for the trust placed in us. Looking forward, we remain committed to upholding peace in the Taiwan Strait and being a force of good in the international community. pic.twitter.com/9Xq18uRwxB
— 賴清德Lai Ching-te (@ChingteLai) January 13, 2024
He said he hoped to return to “healthy and orderly” exchanges with China. “Taiwan is China’s Taiwan,” Chen Binhua, a spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement carried by state news agency Xinhua.
The statement said China will adhere to the one-China principle and firmly oppose separatist activities aimed at “Taiwan independence” as well as “foreign interference.” On the other hand, election results were counted from 98 percent of polling stations across Taiwan, according to commission data, which also showed that Hou was trailing with 33.4 percent of the vote. Voters also elected politicians to Taiwan’s 113-seat legislature in elections closely watched by China and the United States.
China had opposed William Lai Ching-te
Ahead of the elections, China had condemned Lai as a dangerous separatist and said he would be a threat to peace in the region if he won, calling the elections a choice between “peace and war”. In his victory speech, Lai took clear aim at China, saying Taiwan had succeeded in thwarting efforts to influence the vote. “The people of Taiwan have successfully resisted efforts by outside forces to influence this election,” he said.
Lai has said he is committed to peace and is ready for conditional engagement with Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently said in a New Year’s address that Taiwan’s “unification” with China was “inevitable.”
: Language Inputs