China, economy tests for Taiwan presidential winner Tsai

Tsai won 56 per cent of the vote to sweep aside rival Eric Chu of the China-friendly Nationalist Party that has ruled Taiwan under incumbent president Ma Ying-jeou since 2008.

Tsai said she would not be provocative in relations with China. “Tsai Ing-wen should not instil this illusion into Taiwan society”, the editorial said.

“I also want to emphasise that both sides of the Taiwanese Strait have a responsibility to find mutually acceptable means of interaction that are based on dignity and reciprocity”.

Hot candidates tipped to be in her team include Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu, DPP think tank head Lin Chuan and DPP secretary-general Joseph Wu.

“On important issues of principle like protecting the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity our will is as hard as rock”, said a statement released by Chinese state media. Both Taiwan (Republic of China) and China (People’s Republic of China) agreed on a “one China” policy since 1992 under which they accepted sovereignty over China and Taiwan.

China claims Taiwan as its sacred territory. A confrontational approach will satisfy DPP supporters and many young voters who harbor distrust of China.

Analysts said ties with Beijing would inevitably cool as China watches Tsai closely. “We’re not a part of China”. “I’m sorry… We’ve lost”.

“Her (Tsai Ing-wen) view is that there are two Chinas”.

When searching for “Tsai Ing-Wen” or “elections in Taiwan” in the Chinese messaging service a notification appeared stating that results of the query could not be shown due to current laws.

Tsai said her party has had effective communications with the United States in the past and she hopes to continue with that.

“We will work towards maintaining the status quo for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in order to bring the greatest benefits and well-being to the Taiwanese people”. Still, underscoring investor worries about uncertainty following her possible victory, on Friday the Taiwan dollar TWD=TP ended lower against the U.S. dollar in its weakest closing since April 2009. The official announcement has yet been made, however the surveys that were taken after the voting polls closed told the story.

It’s also an issue for the rest of the world, most of which – including Australia – officially pretends that Taiwan does not exist while managing to somehow conduct trade and other relations with it. It’s an unsatisfactory situation, but as long as Taiwan itself is uncertain about how far to assert its independence, other countries will also have to perform a balancing act. Her apology was triggered by her South Korean management company’s fears that China would cancel appearances and endorsement deals.

Ms Tsai warned China that “suppression” would harm cross-Strait ties in her first comments to worldwide media following her election victory. Heavily export-dependent, the economy slipped into recession in the third quarter past year. Outgoing Premier Ma Chih-kuo, however, later said his Cabinet would resign en masse and that he would refuse any proposal to stay put.

“Trying to use chips like “Taiwan public opinion” to guide cross-Strait relations is not only unrealistic, it is also risky”.