Taiwan elects first female president; China threatens after Tsai Ing-wen’s win

China’s state-run media has warned Taiwan’s president-elect Tsai Ing-wen against pursuing a pro-independence path and that a formal split from the mainland would be a “dead end”.

Despite her and the DPP’s election wins, Tsai will face tough challenges ahead, including keeping relations with China from being strained while responding to the popular discontent as demonstrated at the polls.

But the official Xinhua news agency also warned any moves towards independence were like a “poison” that would cause Taiwan to perish.

During a congratulatory call to Tsai, President Ma Ying-jeou said the election is testament to the democratic achievement of Taiwan and the ROC’s solid constitutional framework. The event raised concerns against China among Taiwan’s general public.

Ties between Taiwan and China were strained when the DPP’s Chen governed the nation from 2000-2008 with the mainland labeling the former president as a troublemaker during his eight year tenure as leader.

For its part, China, which in 1996 threatened Taiwan’s first democratic election of its president with missile exercises, should take the outcome of the election as a cue that either political and military pressures or economic interests alone would not sway popular sentiments in Taiwan.

Tsai will be sworn in as the 14th president of the ROC during a ceremony May 20 in Taipei City. Furthermore, many people believe that the rising power of females is undeniable and can not be underestimated; many supporters regard Tsai as the most suitable person for negotiating with China.

“Our will is as strong as a rock, our attitude unswerving on the principal matter of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity”, said the Taiwan Affairs Office, responsible for handling Taiwan affairs in the Chinese Cabinet, reports Al Jazeera.

In a post-election news conference, she underlined Taiwan’s commitment to democracy, calling it a value “deeply engrained in the Taiwanese people”.

Major principles and policies concerning southeast China’s Taiwan Province are consistent and clear, and will not change after the results of the island’s elections held on Saturday, according to the mainland’s Taiwan affairs authority.

Her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party beat the ruling Kuomintang, which has overseen friendlier and ever-closer ties with China on Saturday.

In Hong Kong the result is being celebrated widely as the status quo of Taiwan vis a vis mainland China is a hot topic locally, where the Taiwan flag is banned.

Depending on how it interprets Tsai’s actions, Beijing could ratchet up the pressure by luring away Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic allies or further shutting it out of global organizations.

“What I think that they sometimes fail to understand – the leaders in Beijing – is that for Taiwanese, democracy is their identity and this political system is definitive of Taiwan”, says Shelley Rigger, a Taiwan scholar at Davidson College in the eastern state of North Carolina.