Opposition savours victory in Taiwan

Tsai Ing-wen

THE victory achieved by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in last Saturday’s presidential and parliamentary elections in the Republic of China (Taiwan), has no doubt created tension among the diplomatic community in Abuja.
According to diplomatic sources, the emergence of Tsai Ing-wen, DPP candidate as the first female president, was not as controversial as her party’s lingering plan to make Taiwan an independent nation from the Republic of China.
It was further learnt that while the defeated incumbent government of Eric Chu of the Kuomintang (KMT) has been in support of Taiwan remaining a member of Republic of China (ROC), the newly victorious party believed that it was only independence of Taiwan that would guarantee the desired accelerated development in the region.
In view of Saturday’s election result, the United States of America’s Secretary of State was being expected in the Republic of China over the issue with the intention of dousing the already mounting tension.
But Tsai, in her maiden statement following the announcement of her victory, assured that when her administration takes office in May, the R.O.C. Constitutional order, the results of cross-Strait negotiations and interactions, democratic principles and the will of the Taiwanese people, would become the foundation for future cross-strait relations.
She said: “During this election, I have promised on many occasions that I will build a consistent, predictable and sustainable cross-strait relationship”.
As the 14th president-elect of the Republic of China (Taiwan), “We will work towards maintaining the status quo for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in order to bring the greatest benefits and wellbeing to the Taiwanese people,” said Tsai.
In spite of her peace assurances, however, the diplomatic circle was still skeptical that the victory may change the course of events between China and Taiwan and may also affect the country’s relationship with the West if not diplomatically handled.
Tsai, who contested under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), became the first woman to rule the country.
Announcing the result on Saturday evening, Chairman of the country’s electoral umpire, Central Electoral Committee (CEC), Liu Yi-chou, indicated that the opposition party candidate, Tsai, pulled a total of 6.89 million votes with her running mate, Chen Chien-jen.





-Guardian