A politician who champions autonomy from China has secured a third term for his party after winning Taiwan's presidential election.
Lai Ching-te, the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is set to replace Tsai Ing-wen, who has served the limit of two terms.
It is the first time a party has secured a third term under Taiwan's current electoral system.
Mr Lai, currently the vice president, said Taiwan has shown the world "how much we cherish democracy" following his victory.
He added that the self-governed island will "walk side by side with democracies around the world" and said he has the "important responsibility to maintain peace and stability" in the Taiwan Strait.
Mr Lai was facing two opponents for the presidency - Hou Yu-ih of Taiwan's largest opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) and former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je of the small Taiwan People's Party, only founded in 2019. Both conceded defeat.
In the run-up to the election, China denounced Mr Lai as a dangerous separatist, saying that any moves towards Taiwan's formal independence meant war.
Chinese officials had been accused of using military threats, diplomatic pressure, fake news and offering financial inducements to politicians to try to influence voters to pick candidates who favourunification.
Beijing has long insisted Taiwan is part of China and must be regained, by military force if necessary, regardless of the views of the island's people.
The Taiwanese foreign minister, Joseph Wu, said earlier this week that China's "global objective is that they want to use Taiwan as a testing ground". "If they are able to successfully shape the results of the Taiwan elections, they will try to apply their tactics on other countries," he said.
