Taiwan presidential election – Lai wins election – majority does not want rapprochement with China – News

  • In the shadow of tensions with China, Taiwan has elected a new president and a new parliament.
  • In a setback for Beijing, William Lai of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has won the election in Taiwan.

“I would like to thank the people of Taiwan for writing a new chapter in our democracy,” said the 64-year-old on Saturday evening (local time) in Taipei. The opposing candidates had previously admitted their defeat.

Legend:

The previous vice president of Taiwan, William Lai, will become the new president of the island nation.

Keystone/EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

After counting the majority of the ballot papers, the former vice president received around 40 percent of the vote, according to local media. Behind him was his challenger Huo Yu-ih from the China-friendly and conservative Kuomintang (KMT) with around 33 percent. Another candidate from the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), Ko Wen-je, got around 26 percent, according to broadcaster figures.

Brief assessment by China correspondent Samuel Emch


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Despite threatening gestures and warnings that China has sent towards Taiwan in recent weeks, the population on the island decided in favor of government candidate William Lai. Chinese officials insult him as an extreme separatist.

China’s hopes lay with the opposition party in Taiwan. This maintains good contacts with the Communist Party and presented itself in the election campaign as the party that can mend the bad relations with China.

But many Taiwanese – a majority – are suspicious of the opposition’s good relations with China. For them, electing the opposition is a first step towards unification with China.

The election result shows, on the one hand, that China’s efforts to bring the island closer to the mainland so that it can one day be united with the communist People’s Republic are not fruitful.

On the other hand, the result also underlines what population surveys repeatedly reveal: more and more people on the island feel primarily Taiwanese. Only a small minority still sees themselves as exclusively Chinese.

This election result is likely to raise big questions in Beijing: How can one achieve the goal of bringing the island under its own control? Is this still possible through peaceful means? China has so far not been successful with threats, warnings and economic punitive measures.

The official final result was expected late in the evening. At the same time, the 19.5 million eligible voters decided on the new parliament, the Legislative Yuan, in which the DPP previously had an absolute majority.

Party wins third election in a row

The Progressive Party, which is clearly distancing itself from China, set a new record with the election results. It is the first party to win three consecutive terms since Taiwan began directly electing the president in 1996. In the island state, the head of state appoints the prime minister and is also commander in chief of the armed forces.

Crowd holds up flags cheering

Legend:

The crowd cheers at a rally by the victorious Democratic Progressive Party in New Taipei City.

Keystone/LOUISE DELMOTTE

Another government under a DPP presidency is likely to mean Taiwan moving further closer to the US, while tensions with China continue and possibly worsen. Taiwan’s relationship with China was a dominant issue in the election campaign. Lai had announced that he would continue the line of his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen – who was sharply criticized by Beijing and who was not allowed to run again after two terms in office.

Lai wants to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait

The previous vice president had also declared that he wanted to protect “the survival of the country and the lives of the people”. Lai wants to further strengthen national defense, work more closely with the democratic camp and use deterrence to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait – the strait between China and Taiwan. “Peace rests on strength, not on the benevolence of the invaders,” he said.

This is how the EU reacts


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The EU welcomed the conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections in Taiwan. A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in Brussels on Saturday that all voters who took part in this democratic exercise would be congratulated. Taiwan and the EU share a commitment to democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

The spokesman also stressed that the EU views peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as central to regional and global security and prosperity. “The EU remains concerned about the growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and rejects any unilateral attempt to change the status quo,” he said, alluding to China’s claims to power.

Beijing counts Taiwan as Chinese territory, even though the island has had an independent, democratic government for decades. However, the DPP stands for Taiwan’s independence, although Lai does not want to officially declare it. For China, this case could be the basis for escalating the situation in the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing has already threatened several times to use military means if a “reunification” of Taiwan fails. A conflict in the important shipping route would have enormous consequences for global trade and would draw the USA into the conflict as Taiwan’s ally.

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