The US Can Play a ‘Taiwan Card’

By Saturday night, Tsai had more than 56 percent of votes counted and Chu had 31 percent, with a third-party candidate trailing in the distance. The 59-year-old, Taiwan’s first female president, pledged to defend the sovereignty and separate identity of the island, which has a population of 23 million, while China’s Taiwan affairs office warned it would oppose any move toward independence.

“We want to congratulate the DPP’s victory, this is the Taiwan people’s mandate”, Chu said. Observers say China is likely to adopt a wait-and-see approach to Tsai’s presidency, but might use diplomatic and economy pressure if she is seen as straying too far from its unification agenda. Tsai’s win is considered the people’s message to China, that while they wanted to maintain good relations with the other country, they also wanted their independence.

“She has a responsibility to keep the peaceful development of cross-strait relations on track”, it said.

Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen is preparing for a historic transfer of power after her sweeping victory, amid strident warnings from Chinese state media. After all, it’s 2016.

“Tsai Ing-wen and her Taiwan independence forces shouldn’t think they’ll get away with it. The mainland will not swallow the bitter fruit of Taiwan independence”.

“It’s about what you do”, she said.

In a press statement released by the KMT, Chu expressed thanks for Burns’ visit, which reflected “a stable and welcoming Taiwan-US relationship”. “The result of the election in Taiwan will not change the basic fact and the consensus of the worldwide community”.

According to Cornell, Ing-wen was born in Taiwan and graduated from the university in 1980.

“It’s indeed encouraging to see how firmly rooted democracy has become in Taiwan”, the Nobel Peace laureate said in a statement. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also said that maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait was of the highest priority to Germany.

“The mainland has patience when it comes to the Taiwan issue, but it also has principles and a bottom line”. Michael Reilly, a former British diplomat and Director of the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taiwan said: “As long as restrictions remain on the Church in China, Taiwan will continue to be an important base for formation, training and preparation of priests and religious working on the mainland”.

Today, China is the largest destination of Taiwan’s exports, accounting for roughly 40 percent of the total.

Following her victory, Tsai said the backlash Chou faced had “shaken Taiwanese society”, and added it will “serve as a constant reminder… about the importance of our country’s strength and unity to those outside our borders”.