President-elect Lai Ching-te vows to 'safeguard Taiwan from Chinese threat'

livemint.com:

Lai Ching-te was quoted as saying by CNN. While speaking to the media persons ahead of his victory speech on Saturday night, Lai added, "In the future, we hope that China will recognize the new situation, and understand that only peace benefits both sides of the strait." "We are telling the international community that between democracy and authoritarianism, we still stand on the side of democracy," the President-elect said further. While addressing thousands of supporters at a rally after coasting to a win in the Presidential elections, Lai said Taiwan managed to stay on the world map through the conduct of the polls.

"This is a night that belongs to Taiwan. We managed to keep Taiwan on the map of the world," he said, adding, "The election has shown the world the commitment of the Taiwanese people to democracy, which I hope China can understand." Earlier, on Saturday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate won the much-anticipated Taiwanese presidential polls. Lai Ching-te defeated his two rivals- Hou from the KMT and Ko Wen-je, the former Taipei Mayor representing the relatively newly established Taiwan People's Party.

This also marks the historic third-straight victory for the DPP after Tsai Ing-wena completed her two terms as Taiwan's President since 2016. Lai Ching-te's victory is expected to increase the tensions between the self-ruled island with China as Beijing has repeatedly claimed Taiwan as its own territory and flexed its military might against the island. A day before the presidential elections, China's defense ministry warned that its Army would not hesitate to “crush" the independence movement in Taiwan.