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International community congratulates Taiwan on elections
Courtesy of ICRT & ECCT staff writers
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) says multiple countries have reached out to congratulate Taiwan after the country held its elections for president and legislators.
Felicitations came from leaders of Taiwan's diplomatic allies including Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo, Paraguayan President Santiago Pena, and Belizean Prime Minister John Briceno, even as they expressed optimism over future exchanges.
From Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa congratulated Taiwan for the smooth implementation of the democratic election and Lai on his victory, adding that Japan's government would work toward further deepening cooperation and exchanges on a non-government basis.
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement in response to media queries on Taiwan's elections, saying Singapore shares a close and longstanding friendship with Taiwan, and will continue to grow that relationship based on its "One China" policy.
The United States congratulated Lai on his victory, and the Taiwanese people for demonstrating the strength of a robust democratic system and electoral process.
In a statement from the State Department, Washington said it was looking forward to "working with Dr. Lai and Taiwan's leaders of all parties" to advance shared interests and values and to further its unofficial relationship, consistent with US one China policy as guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances."
Congratulations also came in via social media, from the UK, Lithuania, Germany and the Czech Republic.
This comes after Lai Ching-te (賴清德), the DPP's chairman and incumbent vice president, and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) won the 2024 presidential election with 5,586,019 votes, or 40.05% of the total, according to final election results released by the Central Election Commission (CEC). It was the first time any political party won three consecutive four-year terms in office since Taiwan first held direct elections in 1996.
The Lai-Hsiao ticket defeated Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and his running mate Jaw Shau-kong (趙少康), who garnered 4,671,021 votes, or 33.49% while Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the smaller Taiwan People's Party (TPP), and his running mate Wu Hsin-ying (吳欣盈) garnered 3,690,466 votes, or 26.46% of the total, official CEC vote counts showed.
The results were broadly in line with polls released at the end of December, just before the blackout imposed on public polls 10 days before any election in Taiwan.
However, in Saturday's legislative elections, the DPP secured 51 seats, the KMT 52, and the TPP eight, CEC data showed. Another two seats were won by independents aligned with the KMT, but the party's gain of 15 seats was still not enough to give it the absolute majority it craved.
