Presidential election in Taiwan | The ruling party promises to “protect Taiwan from threats and intimidation from China”

(Taipei) Lai Ching-te promised on Saturday to “protect Taiwan from threats and intimidation from China” after his election as president of the island, with Beijing reaffirming for its part that “reunification” was “inevitable”.

“We are determined to protect Taiwan from China’s continued threats and intimidation,” declared the elected representative of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in front of his jubilant supporters waving red and green flags.

He congratulated the population for having “successfully resisted efforts by external forces to influence this election.”

At the end of a campaign marked by strong diplomatic and military pressure from China, Mr. Lai, 64, won the presidential election in one round with 40.1% of the vote. He will take office on May 20.

The Taiwanese also voted to renew the 113 seats in Parliament, where the DPP however lost its majority: it obtained 51 seats, against 52 for the Kuomintang (KMT), which wants a rapprochement with Beijing, eight for the Taiwanese People’s Party ( TPP) and two for independents.

Outgoing vice-president, Lai Ching-te, whose party claims that the island is de facto independent, has been described by Beijing as a “serious danger”.

The communist country, which considers Taiwan as one of its provinces, assured Saturday evening that this vote “will not hinder the inevitable trend of reunification with China”.

” We […] “We will firmly oppose separatist activities aimed at Taiwan’s independence as well as foreign interference,” warned Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Chinese office responsible for relations with Taiwan.

During the campaign, China called on voters to make “the right choice” and its army promised to “crush” any desire for “independence”.

“I want to thank the Taiwanese people for writing a new chapter in our democracy,” Lai Ching-te said in his victory speech, because “we are telling the international community that between democracy and authoritarianism, we will be on the side of democracy.

However, he promised to “continue exchanges and cooperation with China”.

Model of democracy

The status of Taiwan is one of the most explosive topics in the rivalry between China and the United States, and Washington plans to send an “informal delegation” to the island after the vote.

The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken congratulated, in a press release, Lai Ching-te as well as the Taiwanese for their “solid democratic system”.

But “we do not support independence,” President Joe Biden assured the press. The United States does not recognize Taiwan as a state and considers the People’s Republic of China the sole legitimate government, but nevertheless provides the island with significant military aid.

The head of Japanese diplomacy Yoko Kamikawa also welcomed “the smooth running of the democratic elections and the victory of Mr. Lai”, pledging to deepen unofficial cooperation between Tokyo and Taiwan.

Calling on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to “resolve their differences peacefully,” British Foreign Secretary David Cameron also congratulated Mr. Lai.

The European Union “welcomed” the holding of the elections in Taiwan and “congratulated” “all the voters who participated in this democratic exercise”.

The DPP’s main opponent, Hou Yu-ih, a KMT candidate who advocated rapprochement with Beijing, obtained 33.5% of the votes. He assured “to respect the decision of the Taiwanese people”. The third candidate Ko Wen-je, of the TPP, is credited with 26.5% of the votes.

In the approximately 18,000 polling stations, each ballot was held up and read aloud by those responsible for counting – a process open to the public – before being counted.

The territory of 23 million inhabitants located 180 kilometers from the Chinese coast is hailed as a model of democracy in Asia. Voter turnout was 71.9%.

“Incredibly happy”

“We are very, super, incredibly happy! » , says Grace, 21, at the DPP headquarters. “I am confident that our new leaders will follow the path of Tsai (the outgoing president, Tsai Ing-wen, Editor’s note) and I hope that they will be able to safeguard Taiwanese democracy,” she adds.

All week, Beijing has increased its diplomatic and military pressure. On Thursday, five Chinese balloons crossed the median line of the strait, according to the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, which also spotted ten planes and six warships.

On Saturday, AFP journalists observed a Chinese fighter plane over the town of Pingtan, the closest to Taiwan.

And on the Chinese social network Weibo, the hashtag “Election in Taiwan” was blocked in the morning.

In China, media coverage of the vote was reduced to a minimum during the campaign and on Saturday evening, the news on state television did not even mention it.

A conflict in this strait would be disastrous for the world economy: the island supplies 70% of the planet’s semiconductors and more than 50% of the containers transported in the world pass through it.