Outgoing Taiwan President Cai Ing-Win won the presidential election Saturday, following an election campaign in which she condemned the tyranny of China, which has led an economic and diplomatic intimidation campaign to isolate the island.

"Taiwan has shown the world how much we love our free and democratic lifestyle, and how much we love our nation," Cai said during her victory announcement.

"We hope that the authorities in Beijing understand that Taiwan, a democratic country headed by a government chosen by the people, will not yield to threats and intimidation," she added.

China says Taiwan is its holy land and that it will recover it by force if necessary, a threat that President Xi Jinping launched again a year ago, but he said he favors a peaceful solution "one country, two systems", which provides a great deal of autonomy more like the situation in Hong Kong. It is a principle that was not popular in Taiwan and is now less popular after the city protests.

Immediately after the official results emerged, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in a statement that his country congratulated Cai and "also congratulated Taiwan for showing once again the effectiveness of its solid democratic system which has become a role model" in its region.

Later, Beijing, without referring directly to Tsai's victory, confirmed "opposition to any form of independence for Taiwan" in a brief statement carried by the official media.

19 million voters voted to choose, especially between Tsai and her main opponent, Han Qiu.

According to figures published by the Electoral Commission, Tsai received a record number of votes amounting to 8.1 million votes, or 57.1%, which is 1.3 million more than the votes obtained in the 2016 elections.

Both candidates have different visions of the future of their island’s relationship with Beijing, Taiwan's largest economic partner, as Cai rejects the principle of unity between the two parties, and her "Progressive Democratic" party has traditionally been active for Taiwan independence.

On the other hand, its opponent prefers a rapprochement with Beijing, highlighting in particular the gains that Taiwan Island may gain in the economic field.

Fears that the ruling Communist Party in Beijing will play an important role in the current Taiwan presidential election campaign.