Tsai Ying-wen’s enjoys a broad mandate from her commanding victory in Taiwan’s presidential election and her independence-leaning party’s new legislative majority, but managing the island’s delicate relations with China will be tricky.
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(CNN) – Votes are in for a landmark election that’s expected to result in Taiwan’s first female president and could unsettle relations with giant neighbor China.
China has largely declined to comment on the polls, although its chief official for Taiwan affairs this month warned of potential major challenges in the relationship in the year ahead.
That was followed by another statement from the Foreign Ministry stating that “China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no division”.
ONCE derided as unfit for leadership because she was a “skirt-wearer”, the election of Tsai Ing-wen as Taiwan’s first female president is fuelling hopes the island can break free of the entrenched sexism rooted in its culture. “Both sides of the Taiwan Straits bear the responsibility to make the utmost effort to seek an equal way of respectful interaction in order to guarantee there is no provocation, no accident”, she said.
But while Tsai reiterated her commitment to peaceful ties Saturday, she made it clear Taiwan would not be cowed. The 59-year-old party chairperson is considered knowledgeable because she led Taiwan’s China policymaking body for three years during her party’s only term in office.
Depending on how it interprets Tsai’s actions, Beijing could ratchet up the pressure by luring away Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic allies or further shutting it out of global organizations.
“This has offended and hurt the feelings of the people of Taiwan”. Beijing said yesterday that it would not diverge from its “one China” approach to Taiwan. Tsai will face the task of continuing dialogue with Beijing and revitalizing the island’s economy.
Chinese state media lashed out swiftly in the wake of the victory, saying that Taiwan should abandon its “hallucination” of independence.
The DPP has traditionally backed independence for Taiwan, but Tsai has moderated its rhetoric, promising to maintain the “status quo” with China. China has been aiming hundreds of missiles at Taiwan since members of Chinese nationalists fled the mainland and Communists came to power during China’s civil war, according to Reuters. And a statement from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office quoted by Xinhua said it resolutely opposed any form of secessionist activities seeking ‘Taiwan independence.
For now, analysts say, China will give Tsai some breathing room and wait at least until she delivers her inaugural address. In the final tally, Tsai won more than 56 per cent of votes, while Chu had 31 per cent and a third-party candidate trailing in the distance.
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Ties between Taiwan and China were strained when the DPP’s Chen governed the nation from 2000-2008 with the mainland labeling the former president as a troublemaker during his eight year tenure as leader.
