VP Ching-te Lai wins Taiwan presidential election

Vice President Ching-te Lai has been declared the winner of the 2024 Taiwan presidential election.

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party won a record-breaking third consecutive presidential term in the country’s Saturday presidential election.

According to CNBC, the incumbent Vice President, Ching-te Lai, won the eighth presidential election by a 40% margin.

The DPP is the first party to win the presidency three times since direct presidential elections were instituted in 1996.

Beijing presented the election as a choice between “peace and war, prosperity and decline.”

In an earlier interview, Lai promised to be open-minded about governance while working to forge consensus in a divided legislature.

According to foreign policy analysts, the presidential election results may enrage Beijing, which has frequently characterized Lai as a “stubborn worker for Taiwan independence” and a separatist.

Fears have also been raised that the poll’s conclusion will have an impact on frigid China-United States relations and security in the greater Indo-Pacific region, given China’s increased military presence in the Taiwan Strait and other adjacent waters.

“As president, I have an important responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits,” Lai said in a press conference, in an official party translation of his comments in Mandarin.

“I will act in accordance with our democratic and free constitutional order, in a balanced manner that maintains the cross-Straits status quo.

“Under the principles of dignity and parity, we will use exchanges to replace obstructionism, dialogue to replace confrontation, and confidently present exchanges and cooperation with China,” Lai said in a speech after his victory.