Victory celebration

Incumbent Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou was re-elected in the island's presidential vote on Saturday, pointing to smooth future relations with China and the likelihood of increased economic integration.

"We have won," Ma shouted to supporters at his Nationalist Party headquarters in Taipei as they gathered in pouring rain.

"They gave us support for our policy to put aside differences with the mainland. To search for peace and turn it into business opportunities," he added.

Ma's 12 years of experience as an elected executive prevailed over an opposition candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, who had none. The president, from the ruling Nationalist Party, has steered Taiwan out of the global financial crisis, stepped up ties with China and overseen two years of robust economic growth.

The election had been expected to be tight, but the Central Election Commission said with most ballots counted, Ma had about 51.5 percent of the vote versus about 45.7 percent for Tsai.

"We accept the Taiwan people's decision and congratulate President Ma," Tsai, a China-skeptic, told her party faithful. "We want to give our deepest apology to our supporters for our defeat."

The run-up to the poll has been smooth, unlike in 1996, when China fired missiles into waters off Taiwan before the island's first direct presidential election.

Legislative elections for the 113-seat house are being held at the same time and surveys indicate that Ma's Nationalists will retain their majority, although it may be smaller.

Rocky relationship

China has not yet directly commented on the outcome of the election. China's Taiwan Affairs Office, which steers Beijing's relations with the self-ruled island, issued a statement, however, noting that relations between the two sides of the divided Taiwan Strait had improved in recent years.

"The facts of the past four years again prove that peace and development is the correct path for cross-strait relations, and this has won the support of the broad numbers of Taiwanese compatriots," said the statement, issued by China's official Xinhua news agency.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton welcomed the election result, saying she hoped Taiwan's relationship with China would continue to improve throughout Ma's second term.

"The EU welcomes the improvements in cross-strait relations over the past four years, and I hope that this trend will continue, to the benefit of the people on both sides of the strait," she said.

Ma's signature achievement has been the completion of a China trade deal in 2010 which lowered tariffs on hundreds of goods. Many Taiwanese businesses on the mainland are big Ma backers and have encouraged their employees to support him.

Opposition candidate Tsai Ing-wen has accused Ma of undermining Taiwan's independence in exchange for benefits from the mainland, a theme that resonates with her party's pro-independence base.

Although Ma has fostered closer ties with China, easing decades of animosity, many are worried that he has maneuvered the country into an over-reliance on its powerful neighbor.

Author: Gregg Benzow, Charlotte Chelsom-Pill (dpa, AP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler