Taiwanese voters elected the Democratic Progressive Party’s Lai Ching-te to be the island's president with 40% of the vote, according to Taiwan’s central election commission with almost all votes tallied. The DPP will now serve a third consecutive presidential term—the first time a party has done so since democratic elections began in 1996—following the eight-year tenure of Tsai Ing-wen.
In his victory speech, Lai thanked the Taiwanese people for “writing a new chapter in our democracy.” Acknowledging the island’s tense relations with the People’s Republic of China, Lai pledged to maintain “peace and stability” in the Taiwan straits. Lai will succeed Tsai as Taiwan's president in May.
