“We are telling the international community that between democracy and authoritarianism, we will stand on the side of democracy,” Lai declared, at a victory rally in Taipei on Saturday night, to rounds of rapturous applause from the crowd.
Taiwan elected Lai Ching-te as president of the global chip hub at the centre of US-China tensions, putting in power a man Beijing has branded an “instigator of war.”
Lai, of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, sealed victory in the island’s most hotly contested election in decades with 40.1% of the counted vote — the lowest winning percentage since 2000, another three-way race. The main opposition Kuomintang’s Hou Yu-ih trailed in second place, with the Taiwan People’s Party coming last in its first presidential campaign. Both had pledged to restart dialogue with China.
