Taiwan: Ruling party wins third term despite Chinese pressure

by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwanese voters elected the candidate supported by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Lai Ching-te, as leader of the country on Saturday, ignoring pressure from Beijing which presented this election as a choice between war and peace.

The new Taiwanese president, who replaces Tsai Ing-wen, also from the DPP but no longer able to run again after two terms at the head of the country, has pledged to stand up to Beijing while seeking means of dialogue with the China.

The DPP defends Taiwan’s distinct identity and rejects China’s territorial claims. The victory of its candidate for a third consecutive term is unprecedented in Taiwan’s current electoral system.

“We have written a new page in the history of democracy in Taiwan,” Lai Ching-te, favorite in the opinion polls before the vote, told the press, while his two opponents admitted defeat.

In this single-member majority vote, Lai Ching-te was opposed on the one hand to Hou Yu-ih, the candidate of the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), favorable to a rapprochement with China, and on the other hand. on the other hand, to the former mayor of Taipei, Ko Wen-je, from the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), founded in 2019.

During the election campaign, China portrayed Lai Ching-te as a dangerous separatist and called on the Taiwanese people to make the right choice, while emphasizing “the extreme harmfulness of the DPP’s line on Taiwan independence.”

Beijing has also repeatedly rejected Lai Ching-te’s calls for dialogue.

The latter declared after the vote that he would maintain the status quo in relations between the two countries separated by a strategic strait, but that he was “determined to protect Taiwan from threats and intimidation from China”.

Lai Ching-te at the same time insisted on the need to cooperate and dialogue with Beijing on an equal footing in order to “replace confrontation”, without however supporting his thinking.

Scenes of jubilation accompanied his victory outside his campaign headquarters.

“The DPP is the only party that can truly protect Taiwan,” said Cony Lu, a 28-year-old tattoo artist, who broke down in tears. “So many people are ready to come together to preserve Taiwan’s sovereignty,” she added.

INTERNAL CHALLENGES

The election was not just about China, with voters also concerned about issues as diverse as the high cost of housing, slow wage growth and disruptions in electricity supplies.

Lai Ching-te obtained only 40% of the votes on Saturday compared to more than 50%, four years ago, by the outgoing president, Tsai Ing-wen.

The DPP also lost control of Parliament during the legislative elections organized at the same time as the presidential election.

This could hamper Lai Ching-te’s ability to pass legislation and spending plans, particularly on defense.

Lai Ching-te acknowledged that with the loss of the majority in Parliament, the DPP now had “many areas for improvement.”

The new Taiwanese president, however, has reached out to his adversaries, advocating openness with the integration of members of other parties and cooperation with his unhappy rivals.

During the election campaign, hundreds of thousands of young Taiwanese flocked to rallies organized by Ko Wen-je, who emerged as a new force in the island’s political landscape, garnering about a quarter of the vote, even if He came in last position in the ballot.

The full results of the legislative elections are expected later this evening.

CHINA SOFTENES THE TONE

Among reactions abroad following the vote, US President Joe Biden declared on Saturday that the United States did not support Taiwan’s independence.

“We do not support independence (…),” replied the head of the White House, when asked about his reaction to the outcome of the election. Before the opening of the polling stations, Washington had warned against any desire for interference by a country in the elections.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, for its part, appeared to play appeasement without mentioning the name of the winner, indicating that the results reveal that the DPP “cannot represent mainstream public opinion” in Taiwan.

“Our position on resolving the Taiwan issue and achieving national reunification remains consistent, and our resolve is as firm as a rock,” he said.

He added, however, that China would work with Taiwan’s “political parties, groups and stakeholders” to boost exchanges and cooperation and “advance the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and the cause of national reunification.

The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow still believes that Taiwan is an integral part of China.

Japan, for its part, offered its congratulations to Lai Ching-te.

“We hope that the issue concerning Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue, thus contributing to peace and stability in the region,” Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa wrote in a statement.

“For Japan, Taiwan is an extremely crucial partner and important friend, with which it shares fundamental values ​​and maintains close economic relations and people-to-people exchanges,” she added.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu; with contributions from Faith Hung, Ben Blanchard and James Pomfret; French version by Claude Chendjou, edited by Gilles Guillaume)