Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Ching-te greets supporters in New Taipei City, Taiwan, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. The Ruling-party candidate has emerged victorious in Taiwan's presidential election and his opponents have conceded.
© AP Photo/Louise Delmotte
(Taipei) – For the first time in Taiwan’s history, the same party has won the presidential election in three consecutive contests. On Saturday, Vice President William Lai was elected president. He had been leading by more than one million votes when the opposition candidate conceded. Polls were still open when the contest was conceded to Lai.
Of course, this could potentially serve to further strain relations between Taiwan and China. Beijing has called Lai a “troublemaker” in the past and referred to him as a “separatist.” China also considers Taiwan a breakaway province, despite it’s self-governed status. Beijing’s official position is to treat Taiwan as a territory that will eventually be brought within Chinese control, and the potential for armed conflict has been at the forefront of US-Chinese relations in recent years.
