China commends Taiwan voters after ruling party defeat

China has welcomed the defeat of Taiwan’s secessionist ruling party in the self-ruled island’s local elections, saying the vote showed the “strong will” of the people in the region to develop peaceful relations with Beijing.

Some 19 million people went to the polls in Taiwan on Saturday to choose 22 mayors and county magistrates along with thousands of local officials. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost seven of its 13 cities and counties as well as two special municipalities to the China-friendly Kuomintang Party (KMT) in the polls.

“The (election) results reflected the strong will of the Taiwan public in hoping to continue to share the benefits of the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait, and their strong wish in hoping to improve the island’s economy and people’s wellbeing,” read a statement by China’s policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office and carried by official Xinhua news agency.

Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, also said his government would continue to treat Taiwan as part of China and “resolutely oppose separatist elements advocating ‘Taiwan independence’ and their activities.”

Beijing has considered Taiwan a breakaway province since a self-proclaimed government was established there in 1949. Most world countries recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan.

The local midterm elections in the self-ruled island were regarded as a referendum on the administration of the island’s pro-West president Tsai Ing-wen.

In the run-up to the elections, Tsai and her government accused Beijing of trying to sway Taiwanese voters with “political bullying” and “fake news.” China vehemently dismissed the allegations.

As the results were finalized late on Saturday, the nationalist KMT swept to a landslide victory by winning votes in 15 Taiwanese cities and gaining influence in at least three of the six special municipalities.

Voters in Taiwan also rejected a proposal to change the name of its Olympic team to Taiwan from the current Chinese Taipei in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Tsai resigns as head of party

During a brief news conference at DPP headquarters in Taipei late on Saturday, Tsai announced that she was stepping down as the ruling party’s chairperson, taking responsibility for her party’s major defeat at the mayoral and county elections.

“I hereby announce my resignation as chairwoman and shoulder responsibility,” she said. “We have learned a lesson and must reflect on ourselves as, obviously, voters have a higher expectation of us.”

In a Facebook post, Taiwanese Prime Minister William Lai also offered his resignation to Tsai.

“Elections are a vote for the public to inspect the government’s performance, and the results show the public obviously is not satisfied,” he said. “I feel sorry for this and I have offered my verbal resignation to Tsai to take political responsibility.”

Tsai refused the premier’s resignation, saying she wanted him to continue her agenda.

Beijing’s relations with Taipei have particularly been strained since Tsai came to power in 2016. She has strong anti-China inclinations and refuses to acknowledge that both sides are part of “One China.”

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