Lai's Victory in Taiwan Presidential Election is a Defeat for China

By Frank Fang and Joshua Philipp, The Epoch Times.com, January 13, 2024
 

TAIPEI, Taiwan—The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has secured the presidency for another four years, a result that means Taiwan and the United States will likely continue to work closely as partners in the face of challenges from Beijing.

The DPP presidential candidate, current Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, secured over 5.5 million votes, or about 40 percent of the ballot, defeating two other candidates. His victory means that his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, who stepped down as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States in November, will be the new vice president.

Hou Yu-ih, the current New Taipei City mayor and the presidential candidate of the main opposition Kuomintang Party (KMT), finished second with about 4.6 million votes. In third place with about 3.6 million votes is Ko Wen-je, former Taipei mayor and the presidential candidate of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), a relatively new party founded in 2019.

In his victory speech, Mr. Lai said “Taiwan has achieved a victory for the community of democracies.”
 

“We are telling the international community that between democracy and authoritarianism we will stand on the side of democracy, the Republic of China, Taiwan will continue to walk side by side with democracies from around the world,” Mr. Lai said, referring to Taiwan’s official name.

“Through our actions, the Taiwanese people have successfully resisted efforts from external forces to influence this election,” he added, a veiled remark to China’s efforts to interfere in Taiwan’s elections. “We trust that only the people of Taiwan have the right to choose their own president.”

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Mr. Lai emphasized that he will maintain the current status quo across the Taiwan Strait. “As long as there is dignity and parity between two sides of the street, Taiwan is very willing to engage in dialogues with China,” he added.

The president-elect also praised President Tsai Ing-wen, the current DPP chairwoman, saying that her foreign policy and national defense policy “have received recognition from the international community.”

“President Tsai has been extending goodwill [to China] many times in the past eight years. However, China did not provide the response that should have been there,” Mr. Lai said. Ms. Tsai has been president since 2016, winning two four-year terms.

“So in the future, we hope that China will recognize the new situation and understand that only peace benefits both sides of the strait,” he added. “In addition, global peace and stability depend upon the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait. Therefore, we hope that China will understand the situation because China also has a responsibility.”

Mr. Lai and Ms. Hsaio are scheduled to be inaugurated on May 20.

The elections came amid the backdrop of China’s increasing aggression and hostility against Taiwan, a self-ruled island that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to take over. Meanwhile, Taiwan enjoys bipartisan support in Congress in preserving its democracy and way of life.

China, which has been sending military planes and vessels to areas near Taiwan in recent years, continued its aggression on election day. Taiwan’s defense ministry reported on Saturday that it had detected eight Chinese military planes and six military vessels near the island in the 24 hours before 6 a.m. on Saturday.
 

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