President Tsai Ing-wen of the liberal Democratic Progressive Party won re-election in a landslide victory on Saturday, defeating her main contender Han Kuo-yu of the conservative Kuomintang Party. More than 14 million voters went to the polls — a voter turnout of 74.9 per cent. Tsai’s record-breaking result made the headlines of local newspapers on Sunday, along with the DPP’s victory in the legislative elections. HKFP rounds up local front pages.
See also: Taiwan election: what does Tsai Ing-wen’s victory mean?
Apple Daily — “A big victory for Tsai Ing-wen”
Apple Daily said the Taiwanese had “expressed with determination to the entire world that Taiwan would firmly preserve its sovereignty,” while resolutely rejecting China’s ‘one country, two systems’ model.
The Liberty Times — Tsai Ing-wen makes “epic” record with 8.17 million votes
The newspaper that is sometimes considered to be tilted in favour of the DPP used the photo of Tsai and Vice President-elect William Lai greeting supporters outside the DPP headquarters on Saturday evening. It said Tsai had won a second term — following the path of her predecessors — with a record-breaking number of votes.
The China Times — “Tsai Ing-wen wins big with 8.17 million record votes”
The pro-Beijing newspaper said Tsai had won a sweeping victory in Saturday’s election, with the DPP set to take more than half of the seats in the legislature. It also said the Kuomintang had suffered yet another crushing defeat since losing power in 2016, when Tsai was first elected into office.
The Taipei Times — “Tsai wins by a landslide”
Local English newspaper, The Taipei Times, led with: “Tsai wins by a landslide.” It also quoted Han saying that he had not tried hard enough and had let his supporters down.
United Daily News — “Tsai Ing-wen wins re-election”
The conservative-leaning United Daily News said the incumbent Taiwan president had won re-election. It also quoted Han Kuo-yu as saying he had not made enough effort in his campaign, with a photo of Han and his vice-presidential candidate Simon Chang bowing to their supporters.
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