Taiwan's elections and the Indo-Pacific

The diplomatic responses to Lai Ching-te's victory underscore the challenge and importance of maintaining the status quo in the region

Taiwan elections are over, and Lai Ching-te, the candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is the winner, though by a thin margin. He won about 40 per cent of the vote, while the rival candidate, Hou Yu-ih, from the Kuomintang (KMT) party, won 33 per cent. The surprise was the unusual 26 per cent of the vote garnered by Ko Wen-je of a relatively new party, the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), set up only in 2019.

Despite the narrow margin of victory, the DPP has achieved a historical first of winning three presidential elections in a row since