Lai Ching-te, criticized by China as a “grave danger” because of his positions in favor of Taiwan’s independence, won the presidential election on the island on Saturday, according to almost final official results.
Outgoing Vice President Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) received 40.2% of the vote, according to results from 98% of polling stations.
Lai Ching-te, 64, has been described by Beijing as a “serious danger” because his party claims that the island is de facto independent. China, which considers Taiwan as one of its provinces, had called on voters to make “the right choice”, its army promising to “crush” any suggestion of “independence”.
His main opponent Hou Yu-ih, 66, a Kuomintang (KMT) candidate who advocates rapprochement with Beijing, obtained 33.4% of the votes, according to this count from the Central Electoral Commission.
At the start of the evening, he admitted his defeat to his supporters: “I respect the final decision of the Taiwanese people” and “I congratulate Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim [sa colistière] for their election, hoping that they will not disappoint the expectations of the Taiwanese people.”
The third candidate, Ko Wen-je, 64, from the small Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and who presents himself as anti-system (anti-establishment), is third with 26.4%. He also conceded defeat.
The Taiwanese were also voting to renew the 113 seats in Parliament, where the DPP could lose its majority.
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.
Offices closed at 4:00 p.m. local time in this territory of 23 million inhabitants located 180 kilometers from the Chinese coast and hailed as a model of democracy in Asia.
“Cherish our democracy”
“The more a party keeps its distance from China, the more I support it,” confided a student who came to attend the DPP results evening on Saturday.
“This does not mean that we should not have exchanges with China, but it should not affect our subjectivity,” added the young man, who only gave his last name, Huang.
According to a statement from the Taiwanese railway company, 746,000 people were expected to take the train on Saturday, most of them to return to vote in their hometowns, more than in 2020, when there were around 704,000.
This is the case of Yvonne, 31, who was leaving for Taichung and said she was “not particularly worried about our relations with China, because none of the candidates dared to propose any radical measure”.
“Please go vote to show the vitality of Taiwanese democracy,” Lai Ching-te said in the morning before going to place his ballot in the ballot box in the gymnasium of a school in Tainan.
“We should all cherish our democracy and vote with enthusiasm.”
Hou Yu-ih said he hoped that “whatever the turbulence that marked the electoral process, everyone will unite after the vote to face the future of Taiwan.”
“Paper Tiger”
All week, Beijing has increased its diplomatic and military pressure. On Thursday, five Chinese balloons crossed the median line separating the autonomous island from China, 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, all 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.
The status of Taiwan is one of the most explosive subjects in the rivalry between China and the United States, the territory’s primary military supporter, and Washington plans to send an “informal delegation” to the island after the vote .
On Friday, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, met in Washington with Liu Jianchao, head of the international division of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
He reminded him of the importance of “maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
In Taipei, Liu Pei-chi, a 40-year-old high school teacher, mocks Beijing, calling it a “paper tiger”.
“Once you understand their tricks, you are no longer afraid,” continues this DPP voter. “I hope I can defend my country, our democracy and make it known to the world. »
A conflict in the Taiwan Strait would be disastrous for the global economy: the island supplies 70% of the planet’s semiconductors and more than 50% of the containers transported worldwide pass through the strait.