[Taiwan Presidential Election] Tsai Ing-wen Wins Re-election... Achieves Highest Votes and Warns China (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Taipei (Taiwan) = Special Correspondent Sunmi Park] On the 11th (local time), in Taiwan's 15th presidential election, incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate President Tsai Ing-wen succeeded in securing a second term.

President Tsai received 8.17 million votes (57.1%). Kuomintang (KMT) candidate Han Kuo-yu, mayor of Kaohsiung, garnered 5.52 million votes (38.6%), and People First Party candidate James Soong received 600,000 votes (4.25%). The vote difference between first and second place exceeded 2.5 million votes.

President Tsai is the first person in Taiwan's history to receive over 8.1 million votes in a presidential election.

Having been elected as Taiwan's first female president in 2016, she has now made history again by winning re-election. She will continue to serve the four-year presidential term, leading Taiwan until 2024.

Immediately after confirming her victory, President Tsai stood on the stage in front of the campaign headquarters located on Beiping East Road in Taipei and shared her thoughts with the gathered press and supporters.

It was a clear message to China not to interfere with Taiwan's sovereignty.

She said, "Every time a presidential election is held, Taiwan shows how much we cherish our free and democratic way of life and our country," adding, "This election carries additional significance. It has shown the world that when Taiwan's sovereignty and democracy are threatened, the Taiwanese people will raise their determination even higher."

She continued, "We must strive to protect our homeland safely and defend our sovereignty," promising, "Through this election, Taiwan has made it clear that we oppose the 'One Country, Two Systems' policy advocated by China. I will work to protect Taiwan's sovereignty and improve the economy."

Han, the KMT mayor who was defeated that day, took the stage set up in front of the Kaohsiung city campaign headquarters before President Tsai's victory speech and said, "I just congratulated President Tsai Ing-wen on her election victory by phone," and "I accept the election results."

The conflict between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait over China's emphasized 'One China' principle has intensified due to the Hong Kong protests, which is analyzed to have increased support for President Tsai, who has emphasized the protection of sovereignty.

During her term, President Tsai did not recognize the 1992 Consensus (the agreement to acknowledge 'One China' while each side uses its own name) and the 'One Country, Two Systems' policy, which China has insisted must be upheld.

Moreover, as internal voices for Taiwan independence grew louder due to the Hong Kong situation, she openly distanced herself from China by putting 'Taiwan sovereignty protection' at the forefront. During her campaign, President Tsai emphasized, "We must choose democracy and freedom and continue to defend our sovereignty," which garnered strong support from the younger generation.

In fact, the voter turnout for this election was about 75%, approximately 10 percentage points higher than the 66.2% in 2016.

President Tsai is a native Taiwanese 'benshengren' who grew up in a wealthy family. She followed an elite path, earning a Master of Laws from Cornell University in the U.S. (1980) and a Ph.D. in Law from the London School of Economics (LSE) in the U.K. (1984).

She served as a law professor at two Taiwanese universities (1984-1993), chairperson of the Mainland Affairs Council (minister-level, 2000-2004), legislator (member of parliament, 2004-2006), and vice premier (deputy prime minister, 2006-2007), gaining relatively extensive administrative experience. After serving as party chairperson in 2008, she ran for president in 2012 but was defeated. However, she succeeded in her second attempt in January 2016, making history as Taiwan's first female president.

Although she made history as the first female president, she also faced crises. In the local elections held in November 2018, on the way to the presidential election, Han Kuo-yu suddenly emerged and caused a political storm, leading to a landslide victory for the KMT. This dealt a significant political blow to President Tsai, who subsequently stepped down as party chairperson.

However, starting from June last year, the large-scale pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong provided an opportunity for the anti-China DPP. President Tsai, who had been politically declared dead after the local election defeat, cleverly capitalized on the situation and succeeded in turning the presidential election into a confrontation between the forces defending sovereignty in mainland China and Taiwan, gaining the upper hand.