Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party won Taiwan’s presidential election clearly. The biggest challenger to the law withdrew from the race while the vote was still being counted.
TAIPEI / BEIJING Taiwan’s presidential election ended surprisingly easily.
It was expected to be a thriller for the Democratic Progressive Party DPP Lai Ching-ten and the Kuomintang Party Hou Yu-ih’in between.
However, Hou said while the vote was still being counted that he would clearly lose and throw in the towel. Lai led him by about eight percentage points at that point.
The DPP also seemed to be successful in the parliamentary elections held at the same time. According to preliminary results, it remains Taiwan’s leading party.
The DPP has ruled Taiwan since 2016. Lai has worked for the past three years as Taiwan’s popular president Tsai Ing-wen as vice president. Tsai has been in office for two terms, so she could no longer run for office.
“More defense and jobs”
Lai Ching-te also uses a western name William Lai.
He is 64 years old and trained as a doctor. He is known as a politician who emphasizes internationalism, who is well networked in the United States.
In his campaign, Lai talked about further strengthening Taiwan’s defense forces.
The government has already increased the defense budget to 2.6 percent of the gross domestic product. The conscription period for young men has been extended from four months to a year.
Another key election theme of Lai was employment, especially facilitating the employment of young people.
The number one topic on Chinese social media
The election result does not please China. Before the election, Laita was called a separatist in the Chinese state media, whose election would further weaken China-Taiwan relations.
At no point has China accepted Taiwan, with a population of just under 24 million, as an independent state, but considers it a rebel province.
In recent days, Chinese warships and destroyers have been right next to Taiwan’s border. Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that it had spotted two Chinese spy balloons.
Taiwan’s election became the number one topic on Weibo, one of China’s most popular websites, on Saturday. After a few hours, however, the topic was censored on Weibo.