Face reality, respect result: Taiwan to China
Taiwan told China on Sunday to «face reality» and respect its election result, after voters defied Beijing's warnings and chose pro-sovereignty candidate Lai Ching-te as its President.
Voters spurned Beijing's repeated calls not to vote for Lai, delivering a comfortable victory for a man China's ruling Communist Party sees as a dangerous separatist. Beijing responded to Lai's victory by saying it would not change the «inevitable trend of China's reunification».
Lai, of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, had vowed to defend the island from China's «intimidation» and on Sunday Taipei's foreign ministry told Beijing to accept the result.
«The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the Beijing authorities to respect the election results, face reality and give up suppressing Taiwan in order for positive cross-strait interactions to return to the right track,» it said in a statement.
China on Sunday condemned a statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulating Lai on his win. «We strongly deplore and firmly oppose this, and have made serious representations to the US side,» a foreign ministry spokesperson said. After a campaign marked by diplomatic pressure from Beijing and near-daily incursions by Chinese fighter jets, Lai beat his nearest rival Hou Yu-ih on Saturday by more than 900,000 votes.
