Presidential Elections in Taiwan: Candidate Opposing China Wins

(Patria) - Taiwanese voters in today's elections elected the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Lai Ching-te, explicitly rejecting Chinese warnings not to vote for him in an election that Beijing described as a choice between war and peace.

The DPP, which advocates for a separate Taiwanese identity and rejects Chinese territorial claims, was seeking a third term in these elections, unprecedented in Taiwan's current electoral system.

The newly elected president said today after the results were announced that he hopes to return to "healthy and orderly" exchanges with China, reiterating his desire for talks based on dignity and parity, as reported by RFE/RL.

Taiwan's outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen is constitutionally barred from running again after two terms.

Lai faced two opponents for the presidency - Hou Yu-ih from Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), and former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je from the small Taiwan People's Party, founded only in 2019. Both candidates conceded defeat.

Lai says he is committed to maintaining peace and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and strengthening the island's defense. Addressing reporters in the southern city of Tainan before the vote, he encouraged people to cast their ballots.

- Every vote counts, because this is Taiwan's hard-won democracy - he said in brief comments.

Ahead of the elections, China condemned Lai as a dangerous separatist, saying any move toward formal Taiwanese independence means war, and rejected Lai's calls for talks.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said on Saturday morning that it had again observed Chinese military balloons crossing the sensitive strait, with one flying over Taiwan itself.

The ministry has characterized these overflights across the strait over the past month as psychological warfare and a threat to aviation safety.

Beijing views this island nation as its territory, which it will retake by force if necessary.

Lai and outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen reject China's claims of sovereignty over Taiwan, a former Japanese colony that split off amid the civil war in 1949.

They have, however, offered to talk with Beijing, which has repeatedly refused to hold talks and called them separatists.

Beijing was believed to favor the candidate from the nationalist party more inclined toward China, also known as the Kuomintang, or KMT.

Its candidate, Hou Yu-ih, also promised to restart negotiations with China while strengthening national defense.

The third candidate in the race, Ko Wen-je from the smaller Taiwan People's Party, or TPP, attracted support especially from young people who wanted an alternative to the KMT and DPP, Taiwan's traditional opposing parties that have largely alternated in power since the 1990s.

Ko also stated that he wants to talk with Beijing, and that his conclusion would be that Taiwan should remain democratic and free.

The United States, which is obligated by its laws to provide Taiwan with the weapons needed for defense, has promised support to whichever government emerges, reinforced by the Biden administration's plans to send an unofficial delegation of former senior officials to the island shortly after the elections.