Highlights: Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's presidential candidate presented by China as a "grave danger," won the election, according to partial official results. Hou Yu-ih, the candidate in favour of a rapprochement with Beijing, conceded defeat. The Taiwanese were also voting to renew the 113 seats in parliament, where the DPP could lose its majority. A conflict in the Taiwan Strait could be disastrous for the global economy: the island supplies 70% of the world's semiconductors.

Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's presidential candidate presented by China as a "grave danger," won the election, according to partial official results; Hou Yu-ih, the candidate...

Taiwan: China's maligned candidate Lai Ching-te wins presidential election

Lai Ching-te, Taiwan's presidential candidate presented by China as a "grave danger," won the election, according to partial official results; Hou Yu-ih, the candidate in favour of a rapprochement with Beijing, conceded defeat.

Supporters of Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Lai Ching-te applaud the election results in Taipei, Taiwan, January 13, 2024. © AP/ChiangYing-ying

By: RFI Follow

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The candidate of Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), who is in favour of a rapprochement with China, conceded defeat in the presidential election on Saturday evening. "I respect the final decision of the Taiwanese people" and "I congratulate Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim on their election, hoping that they will not disappoint the expectations of the Taiwanese people," Hou Yuh-ih told supporters.

40.2% of the vote

By early evening, outgoing Vice President Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was credited with 40.2% of the vote, according to near-final official results. His main opponent Hou Yu-ih, 66, the Kuomintang (KMT) candidate who advocates a rapprochement with Beijing, won 33.2 percent of the vote, according to a provisional count by the Central Election Commission. The third candidate, 64-year-old Ko Wen-je of the small Taiwan People's Party (TPP), who presents himself as anti-establishment, was given third with 25.3 percent.

The Taiwanese were also voting to renew the 113 seats in parliament, where the DPP could lose its majority. At the roughly 18,000 polling stations, each ballot was held up high and read aloud by those in charge of counting – a process open to the public – before being counted. Polls closed at 16 p.m. (8 GMT) in the territory of 23 million people, 180 kilometers off China's coast and hailed as a model of democracy in Asia.

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Hou Yu-ih said he hoped that "no matter how turbulent the electoral process was, everyone will unite after the election to face Taiwan's future." Throughout the week, Beijing has stepped up its diplomatic and military pressure. On Thursday, five Chinese balloons crossed the median line separating the self-governing island from China, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry, which also spotted 10 planes and six warships. On Saturday, AFP journalists observed a Chinese fighter jet over the city of Pingtan, Taiwan's closest to Taiwan. And on the Chinese social network Weibo, the hashtag "Taiwan election" was blocked in the morning.

Taiwan's status is one of the most explosive issues in the rivalry between China and the United States, the territory's top military backer, and Washington has planned to send an "informal delegation" to the island after the vote. A conflict in the Taiwan Strait could be disastrous for the global economy: the island supplies 70% of the world's semiconductors and more than 50% of the world's containers pass through the strait.

Taiwan: China's maligned candidate Lai Ching-te wins presidential election

Taiwan: China's maligned candidate Lai Ching-te wins presidential election

40.2% of the vote

Explosive Subject

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