The Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate, Lai Ching-te, has secured a relatively comfortable vic

Let’s catch up with Taiwan’s election results so far: The Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate, Lai Ching-te, has secured a relatively comfortable victory over the opposition Kuomintang’s Hou Yu-ih and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party The result marks a milestone for the relatively young democracy, as it’s the first time that a political party has won three consecutive presidential elections in a row Still, with just 40.1% of the vote, the result was far from a ringing endorsement of the new president. And the ruling DPP also lost its majority in the legislature, though the final lawmaker tally is still unclear. That may make it challenging for Lai to push through major reforms Lai said the result showed his party did not work hard enough, and vowed to “humbly review” the election. He also pledged to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and offered to pursue exchanges with China The result is a setback for Beijing, which has refused to engage with the current DPP administration of Tsai Ing-wen. Both the KMT and TPP had vowed to engage more with China Samson EllisTaipei Bureau Chief   Updated Jan 13 Jan 1305:51 Stephen Engle looks at the four more years awaiting the DPP: Adrian KennedySenior Editor, News Desk, Taipei   Jan 1305:36 Japan’s de facto ambassador to Taiwan, Kazuyuki Katayama of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, has also given his nation’s congratulations. “Taiwan’s democracy is strong and vibrant,” Katayama said in a Facebook post. To continue to develop friendly ties between Taiwan and Japan and maintain peace and stability in region, “we will continue to work with Taiwan’s current and next governments and all stakeholders in Taiwan.”