Taiwan tells China to 'face reality' after election

Taiwan told China to “face reality” and respect its election result, after voters defied Beijing’s warnings and chose pro-sovereignty candidate Lai Ching-te as President.

Taiwan on January 14 told China to "face reality" and respect its election result, after voters defied Beijing's warnings and chose pro-sovereignty candidate Lai Ching-te as President.

Voters spurned Beijing's repeated calls not to vote for Mr. Lai, delivering a comfortable victory for a man China's ruling Communist Party sees as a dangerous separatist.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory and has never renounced force to bring it under its control, responded to Mr. Lai's victory saying it would not change the "inevitable trend of China's reunification".

Mr. Lai, of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), vowed to defend the island from China's "intimidation" and on Sunday the island's foreign ministry told Beijing to accept the result.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the Beijing authorities to respect the election results, face reality and give up suppressing Taiwan in order for positive cross-strait interactions to return to the right track," it said in a statement.

After a campaign marked by diplomatic pressure from Beijing and near-daily incursions by Chinese fighter jets, Mr. Lai beat his nearest rival Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT) on Saturday by more than 900,000 votes.

In his victory speech the 64-year-old Mr. Lai congratulated voters for refusing to be swayed by "external forces" trying to influence the election.