Taiwan’s Newly Elected Head of Administration Says Intends to Jointly Promote Democracy With US
Lai Ching-te
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Newly elected regional leader of Taiwan Lai Ching-te on Sunday thanked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his congratulations on the election victory and declared an intention to jointly promote democracy and peace in the Indo-Pacific region. On Saturday, Blinken congratulated Lai on his victory, adding that the United States is looking forward to work with the new Taiwanese leadership in accordance with the one-China policy. The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned Blinken’s statement as violating the “US own political commitment” to maintaining only unofficial ties with Taiwan. “[Secretary Blinken], thank you for your congratulations. The Taiwan-US partnership is guided by our shared values and interests. Working together with friends from the US, Taiwan is committed to furthering democracy, peace & prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” Lai said on X. On Saturday, Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was named the winner of the election of the head of the administration of Taiwan after securing 40.05% of the vote. The DPP itself, however, lost 11 seats in the island’s parliament as a result of the elections. 
AnalysisUS-Backed Candidate’s Victory in Taiwan Means ‘Year of the Dragon is Going to Be Tense’Yesterday, 19:07 GMTTaiwan has been governed independently of mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan — a territory with its own elected government — maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.
