A US and a number of foreign missions in Taiwan last night extended congratulations to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her re-election.
Tsai, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), won a landslide victory over her Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rival, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), with People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) trailing far behind them both.
The US hailed Tsai’s victory as a demonstration of Taiwan’s “robust democratic system.”
Photo: CNA
The US Department of State, in a statement issued late last night, praised Tsai for developing a strong partnership with Washington and for her “commitment to maintaining cross-strait stability in the face of unrelenting pressure.”
“Under her leadership, we hope Taiwan will continue to serve as a shining example for countries that strive for democracy, prosperity, and a better path for their people,” it said.
It also congratulated Taiwan “for once again demonstrating the strength of its robust democratic system, which — coupled with a free market economy and a vibrant civil — makes it a model for the Indo-Pacific region and a force for good in the world.”
German Institute Taipei Director-General Thomas Prinz had earlier posted a message of congratulations on Facebook, saying that Germany and Taiwan not only have deep exchanges in areas of economy, academia, business and culture, but share the same values.
“Freedom, democracy, rule of law and human rights are the prerequisite foundation of running the country for both Germany and Taiwan, and you and your policies fully exemplify these values,” Prinz wrote.
Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chief Representative Hiroyasu Izumi also posted a congratulatory message on Facebook.
“I feel extremely honored to be able to continue our collaboration with Tsai on elevating the Japan-Taiwan relations to the next level,” Izumi wrote.
Less than two hours after vote counting began following the polls closing, Finnish member of parliament Mikko Karna posted congratulations on Twitter.
“Already at this point of the count I feel safe to say: Congratulations Ms. @iingwen, The President of ROC #Taiwan!” wrote Karna, who is a chair of the Finnish-Taiwanese parliamentary friendship group.
“I am looking forward to visit your fantastic country next summer,” he wrote, adding: “Finland and Taiwan must maintain and further strengthen their bilateral relations.”
As of press time, there had been no response from Beijing.
Additional reporting by AFP
This story has been updated since it was first published.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day. In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals. The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.” In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
A road safety advocacy group yesterday called for reforms to the driver licensing and retraining system after a pedestrian was killed and 15 other people were injured in a two-bus collision in Taipei. “Taiwan’s driver’s licenses are among the easiest to obtain in the world, and there is no mandatory retraining system for drivers,” Taiwan Vision Zero Alliance, a group pushing to reduce pedestrian fatalities, said in a news release. Under the regulations, people who have held a standard car driver’s license for two years and have completed a driver training course are eligible to take a test
RSS