William Lai (Lai Ching-te), candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is the new president of Taiwan. His is a historic victory because it hands the leadership of the island to the DPP for the third time in a row. Vice President since 2020, 64 years old, Lai defends the independence of Taiwan and has a history of studying medicine at Harvard. Premier for two years from 2017, he had previously been mayor of Tainan for seven years. Since January 2023 he has been at the helm of the DPP, considered ''a troublemaker'' by Beijing although it does not formally support a declaration of independence. He takes the place of Tsai Ing-wen who cannot run again due to term limits.
''We are telling the international community that between democracy and authoritarianism, we will be on the side of democracy. The Republic of China and Taiwan will continue to walk side by side with democracies around the world,'' Lai said in his first speech to supporters after the victory, vowing to ''safeguard Taiwan from China's threats and intimidation.'' '.
Lai's deputy, Hsiao Bi-khim, who recently served as Taiwan's envoy to the United States, was elected vice president. Beijing has sanctioned her twice as a ''stubborn secessionist''. China had asked Taiwanese voters to ''make the right choice'' and to ''recognize the extreme danger that Lai Ching-te will trigger a clash and conflict across the Strait''.
The Global Times, a nationalist Chinese tabloid, describes Lai as a “separatist”. For Beijing he is a “provocateur” and a “troublemaker”. During the election campaign, he repeated that Taiwan hopes to “be a friend” of China and said he was open to dialogue with the Dragon, but he also warned that “the international community has realized the threat that China represents to Taiwan and the world” .
The election result shows that the people of Taiwan believe they are a de facto sovereign nation that should strengthen defenses against threats from China and deepen relations with democratic countries. The vote is also an affront to eight years of increasingly strong tactics towards Taiwan by Xi Jinping, who has defined the ''reunification'' of the island with the mainland as ''a historical inevitability''. Detested by leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, Lai's victory is unlikely to improve relations between Beijing and Taipei.
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