Taiwan’s Ruling Party DPP Candidate William Lai Wins Presidency

TAIPEI, Taiwan—The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has secured the presidency for another four years, a result that means Taiwan and the United States will likely continue to work closely as partners to deter China. The DPP presidential candidate, current Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, secured over 5.4 million votes, or about 40 percent of the ballot, defeating two other candidates. His victory means that his running mate, Hsiao Bi-khim, who stepped down as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States in November, will be the new vice president. Hou Yu-ih, the current New Taipei City mayor and the presidential candidate of the main opposition Kuomintang Party (KMT), finished second with about 4.5 million votes. In third place with about 3.5 million votes is Ko Wen-je, former Taipei mayor and the presidential candidate of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), a relatively new party founded in 2019....