Taiwan on Sunday called on China to “respect the results of the presidential election” that Lai Ching-te won the previous day. He reiterated that the island was de facto independent and promised to defend it against the threat of reunification.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the Beijing authorities to respect the election results, face reality and refrain from repressing Taiwan,” the Taiwanese ministry said in a statement.
The ministry claimed to have received congratulations from “more than 50 countries, including 12 diplomatic allies” and denounced the “absurd and false comments” from Chinese authorities.
Earlier on Sunday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on the social network that the world and the fact that Taiwan is part of China will not change.
On Saturday evening, the communist country, which considers Taiwan one of its provinces to be reunified by force if necessary, reiterated that this vote “will not constitute an obstacle.”[it] not the inevitable trend of reunification with China.
“We (…) will firmly oppose separatist activities aimed at Taiwan's independence and foreign interference,” warned Chen Binhua, spokesman for the Chinese office responsible for relations with Taiwan.
At the end of a campaign marked by heavy diplomatic and military pressure from China, outgoing Vice President Lai Ching-te, 64, won the presidential election in one round with 40.1% of the vote.
He will take office on May 20 alongside his vice president, Hsiao Bi-khim, Taipei's former representative in Washington.
Lai Ching-te, like outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen, was from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who was barred from running after two terms in office, and promised to “protect Taiwan from China's ongoing threats and intimidation.”
Nuanced position
The man who in the past defined himself as the “pragmatic architect of Taiwan's independence” has now toned down his speech: now, like Tsai Ing-wen, he takes a more nuanced position and reiterates that an independence process is not necessary unless the island is de facto independent, with its own government and its own elections.
However, Beijing continues to view him as a promoter of “separatist activities related to independence” and a “serious threat” to China-Taiwan relations.
China had therefore urged the Taiwanese to make “the right choice,” but they chose Lai Ching-te rather than his main opponent, Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang, who favored rapprochement with Beijing.
“We say to the international community that between democracy and authoritarianism, we will stand on the side of democracy,” the president-elect told his supporters, but vowed to “continue exchanges and cooperation with China, the island’s main trading partner.” .
Taiwan's status is one of the most explosive issues in the rivalry between China and the United States, and Washington planned to send an “informal delegation” to the island after the vote.
American diplomatic chief Antony Blinken congratulated Lai Ching-te and the Taiwanese people on their “solid democratic system.”
But “we do not support independence,” President Joe Biden assured.
The United States does not recognize Taiwan as a state and considers the People's Republic of China to be the only legitimate government, but still provides significant military assistance to the island.
The European Union “congratulated” “all the voters who took part in this democratic exercise.”
“Increase the pressure”
The area with 23 million inhabitants, 180 kilometers from the Chinese coast, is considered a model of democracy in Asia.
“The ruling party’s unprecedented third presidential victory in a row will disappoint China,” commented Bonnie Glaser, China expert at the German Marshall Fund in Washington. “However, there is unlikely to be a change in Beijing’s reunification strategy in the short term.”
The analyst also considers it “unlikely (…) that Chinese President Xi Jinping will resume official contacts with the Taiwanese government that were suspended eight years ago after the election of Tsai Ing-Wen.”
For Alexander Huang, a military expert at Tamkang University in Taipei, China's military response to the vote “is unlikely to be immediate.”
But “Beijing will increase pressure on Taiwan in other ways: after all, Lai Ching-te is not like Tsai Ing-wen,” he said, estimating that the president-elect is perceived by Beijing as more radical than his predecessor.
According to Taiwan's Defense Ministry, China sent balloons, planes and warships across the strait in the week before the election.
A conflict in this strait would be catastrophic for the global economy: the island supplies 70% of the planet's semiconductors and more than 50% of the world's containers pass through it.