The appointment with the ones, to which more than 19.5 million Taiwanese were called, decided the future of the Executive and Legislative of the island. William Lai, acting vice president and candidate to occupy the Taipei Presidential Palace, won the presidential race with 40% of the votes. These elections also mark the course of Asian democracy with respect to China, which has already stated that any attempt at “separatism” will mean the end of stability in the Taiwan Strait.
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Taiwan confirmed its own decision. William Lai, vice president of the current president, Tsai Ing-wen, and candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party, won the elections on January 13 with the 40% of the votes. The count already exceeds 85%, so the trend is unalterable.
“We hope that all the people of the country can vote enthusiastically to show the vitality of Taiwanese democracy and allow Taiwan to continue moving forward,” Lai said after casting his vote on Saturday morning.
In second position was the Kuomintang candidate, Hou Yu-ih, in favor of a rapprochement with China, who obtained about 33% of the votes according to official data. Yu-ih already acknowledged defeat for him.
Behind was the outsider Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People's Party with just over 26%.
In the legislative arc, the Taiwanese also voted to renew the 113 seats that make up Parliament, known as the Legislative Yuan, where the ruling party has a majority of 63 seats.
The day of this January 13 was recorded without major incidents. With the exception of the delay of a flight from Taipei, the capital, to the island of Kinmen, which caused protests from a hundred travelers willing to vote in their place of residence, since Taiwanese law requires in-person voting.
Until 6:30 p.m. (local time), participation was around 69%, waiting to confirm whether it finally equals or exceeds that of 2020, when 74.9% of the Taiwanese electorate voted to exercise their democratic right.
Relations with China at the center
William Lai, following the course of his predecessor and with a firm sovereignty, presented these elections as a battle between “democracy” and “autocracy” in reference to Beijing. However, the Kuomintang candidate has stated that only a rapprochement with China based on an eventual opposition victory could avoid a “war.”
For its part, the Chinese government, through Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army, stated in the hours before the election that it is prepared to take “all necessary measures” to defeat the Taiwanese independence movement.
“(The Army) maintains maximum vigilance at all times and will take all necessary measures to resolutely crush any form of separatist plans for 'Taiwan independence,'” he stressed. Beijing is committed to “firmly defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country,” according to the authorities.
The “one China” policy has been imposed by the Asian giant in relation to Taiwan after the defeated nationalists of the Kuomintang were forced to flee to the island in the 1949 civil war and now they want to impose the return of Chinese command. over there.
Over the last few decades, bilateral relations have fluctuated according to the Taiwanese governance in power.
Between 2000 and 2008, with Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party in power, sovereignist rhetoric greatly tense the talks with Beijing, which then relaxed with the opposition victory of Ma Ying-jeou until the arrival of Tsai Ing-wen. in 2016, when the friction became total.
In the last two years, China has carried out large-scale military exercises around the island territory in retaliation for the rapprochement between the Taiwanese administration and the United States.
*Local media, EFE and Reuters
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