Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has won a second term after defeating her opponent in the presidential election conducted in the country.
With almost all votes counted, Ms Tsai had just over 57% of the vote, well ahead of her rival Han Kuo-yu.
Ms Tsai told a news conference: “Taiwan is showing the world how much we cherish our free democratic way of life and how much we cherish our nation.”
While reacting to China’s sovereignty threat Taiwan will be reunited with China by force, Ms Tsai stated that China should now drop that threat.
“Peace means that China must abandon threats of force against Taiwan,” she said.
“I also hope that the Beijing authorities understand that democratic Taiwan, and our democratically elected government, will not concede to threats and intimidation,” she added.
However, Mr Han, the Kuomintang party candidate, admitted defeat as the results became clear.
“I have called President Tsai to congratulate her. She has a new mandate for the next four years,” he told a crowd in the southern city of Kaohsiung,” he said.
Tsai was leading in the polls as voters watched the way in which Beijing handled pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Her stance was popular with those who fear Taiwan being overtaken by mainland China.
