TAIPEI – Mr Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan’s ruling party, won an election on Jan 13 that China had framed as a choice between war and peace.
The candidate for Taiwan’s main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), Mr Hou Yu-ih, conceded defeat in the election.
Mr Lai’s DPP, which champions Taiwan’s separate identity and rejects China’s territorial claims, was seeking a third term, unprecedented under Taiwan’s current electoral system.
Mr Lai had faced two opponents for the presidency – Mr Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang, and former Taipei mayor Dr Ko Wen-je of the small Taiwan People’s Party, founded only in 2019.
In the running vote tally reported by Taiwan media, Mr Hou was in second place with some 2.7 million votes, while Mr Ko garnered just over two million.
