She warns China 'suppression' would harm ties
TAIPEI, Jan 16 : Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan's main opposition party will become the island's first female president in a landslide victory over the ruling Kuomintang Saturday, as voters turned their backs on closer China ties.
KMT candidate Eric Chu conceded defeat in a disastrous rout for the party, addressing tearful crowds at the party's headquarters in Taipei.
The vote count is continuing but live television figures from polling stations show Tsai of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has secured a historic landslide victory, with around 60 percent against 30 percent for Chu. That would be the biggest ever win for any president in Taiwan -- the previous record was 58.45 percent for current KMT president Ma Ying-jeou in 2008.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's new president Tsai Ing-wen warned China that "suppression" would harm cross-strait ties on Saturday after her landslide win against the ruling Beijing-friendly Kuomintang.
"Our democratic system, national identity and international space must be respected. Any forms of suppression will harm the stability of cross-strait relations," she told reporters at the Democratic Progressive Party's headquarters in Taipei. ?AFP