The DPP, which supports formal independence from China but has indicated it will maintain the status-quo with the Asian giant, is expected to control Taiwan’s legislature.
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Tsai’s Nationalist opponent, Eric Chu, was a late entry in the race after the party ditched its original candidate, Hung Hsiu-chu, whose abrasive style was seen as alienating voters.
Speaking at her victory rally outside DPP headquarters in Taipei, Tsai said to the jubilant crowd, “the democratic victory is ours, but the road to reform will be long and hard”.
“We must ensure that no provocations or accidents take place”, Ms Tsai said, warning that “any forms of suppression will harm the stability of cross-strait relations”. “We’re going to have a female president”, said one elderly voter, Lin Hsi-tsai.
Tsai has refused to endorse the principle that Taiwan and China are parts of a single nation to be unified eventually.
Tsai will have to balance the superpower interests of China, which is also Taiwan’s largest trading partner, and the United States with those of her freewheeling, democratic home.
Sixteen-year-old Chou Tzu-yu, who performs under the name Tzuyu, had apparently been compelled to apologize after her South Korean management company suspended her activities in China for fear of offending nationalist sentiments on the mainland.
Tsai now finds herself in one of Asia’s most delicate and challenging positions, balancing the democratic will of the Taiwanese people and the aspirations of mainland China, which makes no secret of its desire to absorb Taiwan.
Not only does a more balanced approach represent prudence, but it also reflects the will of the Taiwanese people: Centrist voters, who constitute a far bigger portion of the electorate than strident advocates of independence, have no desire to undo the current modus operandi with China.
The election comes at a tricky time for Taiwan’s export-dependent economy, which entered recession in the third quarter a year ago. But the experiences of those in Taiwan haven’t been the same as China’s for decades.
Though Beijing has consistently warned that tensions between the two sides will rise again if the victor of the elections does not come around to the idea of “One China”, the warnings are seen as milder than before, and it has steered clear of direct public attacks on Tsai.
“What we are concerned about is the relationship between the two sides”, the spokesman, who wasn’t identified, said in a statement.
Tsai has the tide of history against her. Ma and his predecessors all failed to bring about a lasting reconciliation with China, which considers Taiwan a rogue province to be taken by force if necessary.
Taiwan for all practical purposes been independent since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, when the defeated Nationalist government fled to the island as the Communists, under Mao Zedong, swept to power.
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The United States has expressed concerns about the danger of worsening China-Taiwan ties, at a time when China’s navy is increasingly flexing its muscles in the South China and East China Seas and expanding territorial claims.
