When Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party won Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, ensuring his party’s continued rule for an unprecedented third term, Beijing issued a statement asserting that the DPP “cannot represent the mainstream public opinion on the island.”
Lai won 40% of the vote in a three-way race. This means that a majority, 60%, did not vote for the DPP candidate. Moreover, in parliamentary elections held the same day, the DPP lost its majority.
On Feb. 1, the DPP’s speaker and deputy speaker were replaced by Kuomintang legislators, Han Kuo-yu, who ran for president in 2020, and Johnny Chiang, the former KMT chairman.
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