Taipei ¨C Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party¡¯s pick for president, will become the island¡¯s next leader after taking an insurmountable lead in Saturday¡¯s election ¡ª a win that could set the stage for continued confrontation with China.
The achievement ¡ª described by Lai as a ¡°victory for the community of democracies¡± ¡ª marks a historic third-straight win for the DPP and highlights not only the Taiwanese people¡¯s approval of the independence-minded party¡¯s tough stance on China, but also the rejection of the opposition¡¯s plans to re-engage with Beijing amid worsening cross-strait relations.
Official results from the Central Electoral Commission showed that the 64-year-old Lai, long the front-runner in the election, had secured over 40% of the roughly 13.9 million votes cast in a poll that saw a turnout of 70.6%.
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