Gordon Chan talks about the Taiwanese election
Gatestone Institute senior fellow and China expert Gordon Chan spoke on FOX News Digital about the impact of the Taiwan election on U.S.-China relations.
Fox News Digital has confirmed that Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate William Lai has won the fiercely contested presidential election to become Taiwan's next leader.
“The results are in, and Taiwanese voters have stood up for all the war talks with China in recent weeks,” Gatestone Institute senior fellow and China expert Gordon Chan told Fox News Digital. “A free people only 100 miles from the threatening Chinese state refused to be intimidated.”
Mr. Lai defeated his rival, New Taipei Mayor Hou Youxi of the Kuomintang Party, with just over 7% of the vote, after Mr. Hou conceded at 8 p.m. local time. Turnout in Taiwan was about 69% in this year's election, which was lower than the 75% in the 2020 election, when 13.6 million people voted, but higher than the 66% in the 2016 election. According to the Taipei Times.
The victory marks the first time since democratic elections began in Taiwan more than 30 years ago that the Democratic Progressive Party has won three consecutive victories over the Kuomintang, before switching parties amid swinging voter sentiment. This is the first time that a political party has remained in power for up to eight years. Two major political parties.
China's threat grows as Taiwan votes in pivotal election: 'Choose war or peace'
“Voters broke the pattern that had lasted since Taiwan's first democratic elections in 1996,” Chan said. “The Democratic Progressive Party, which is a pro-Taiwan party, and the pro-China Kuomintang Party change the presidential position every eight years.''
“Beijing claims that Taiwanese people are 'Chinese.' By voting for Mr. Lai, they are loudly proclaiming that they are Taiwanese.”
Democratic Progressive Party supporters in Kaohsiung celebrate the Democratic Progressive Party's victory over its opponents in the city's legislative elections, with its candidate leading by a wide margin in the presidential election. (Eric Michael Smith)
FOX News Digital spoke to a Kaohsiung woman who flew in from California to vote in the election. Women voted for Mr. Rai because his policy of making the country independent is “good for the people,” she said. She also dismissed the Kuomintang's main opposition candidate for getting too close to China, saying it would be “dangerous” for the country.
Mr. Lai entered the final week of the election with a narrow lead. Previous opinion polls released more than 10 days before election day had Mr. Lai leading Mr. Hou by an average of 5 points, with some polls showing the difference between the two men as little as 1 point.
Biden to send delegation to Taiwan days after election, likely to anger China
However, early results showed that with only about 10% of polling stations reporting, Mr. Lai had a comfortable lead of about 43.27%, compared to Mr. Hou's 34.01%. The lead narrowed slightly as the results began to trickle in, but not enough to give the National Party a realistic chance of victory.
After 87% of the votes had been counted and it became clear that the path to victory was closed, Mr. Hou spoke to supporters along with key KMT figures. Mr. Hou congratulated Mr. Lai and thanked voters for their support, declaring that everyone must work together for the benefit of Taiwan. A third-party TPP candidate, former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-ji, conceded shortly after Hou.
Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate William Lai votes in Tainan City, southern Taiwan, Saturday, January 13, 2024. Mr. Lai's election victory means that the Democratic Progressive Party retains the position of president. (AP Photo/Ng Hang-guan)
Beijing has not said which candidates it supports in this area, but analysts say Hou is the frontrunner and his party has historically been pro-mainland. . Chinese officials also went to great lengths to frame the vote as a choice between “war or peace,” with Mr. Lai being promoted as a separatist who would lead Taiwan into conflict.
The Democratic Progressive Party's lead in the most recent election was its narrowest victory since the KMT last won the presidential election in 2012, when it won by just about 6 points. In two consecutive elections, the Democratic Party regained power with double-digit support and remained in power.
Taiwan apologizes after mistranslation of emergency warning about China's satellite launch leads to 'missile' warning
The approximately 3.3 million votes for the third-party TPP are the largest number of votes received by a third-party candidate since the 2000 presidential election.
In another historic first, the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for vice president, Hsiao Bi-kim, a former representative of Taiwan to the United States, became the first mixed-race vice presidential candidate to hold the position. Mr. Xiao's mother is an American mother.
Voters in Kaohsiung watch the results of Taiwan's presidential election on a large screen. (Eric Michael Smith)
Heino Klink, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia and military attaché to China, previously told Fox News Digital that the election is likely to play out fairly simply.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Instead, Klink said China could retaliate in the months leading up to Lai's inauguration with military drills and surveillance pressure aimed at influencing Lai's behavior ahead of his tense inaugural address. I warned you it was expensive.
“Now the world should ask: Why should the rest of us be afraid of that aggressor, Xi Jinping, after this election?” Zhang argued. “Now is the time for America to support free peoples who claim to govern themselves.”
