we have shown the world how much we cherish our democracy. this is our unwavering commitment. as one of the first and most highly anticipated elections of 2024, taiwan has achieved a victory for the community of democracies. i am joined now by prof steve tsang, who is the director of the china institute at the school of oriental and african studies in london. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. what difference do you think william lai will make when it comes to governing taiwan, first of all? in terms of governing taiwan, he will not be able to do what his predecessor, the current president, is doing, for the simple reason that his party has failed to win a majority of seats in the legislature, and therefore even
here in taiwan, they want a lot from their government when it comes to issues of daily life, but in the back of their minds they are thinking how beijing will react to this boat. thinking how bei ing will react to this boat. , ., thinking how bei ing will react to this boat. , ., ., ., i, , this boat. let s get more analysis on the vote this boat. let s get more analysis on the vote we this boat. let s get more analysis on the vote we have this boat. let s get more analysis on the vote we have seen. - this boat. let s get more analysis on the vote we have seen. let s l on the vote we have seen. let s speak to former chief opinion editor. what do you think china s reaction will be? actually, i think it s a local elections of china. so that s why i think the china mainland is very, very calm. and, in fact, ithink the taiwan policy in china mainland will not change at least the three points. first, china must be reunified, and it is bound to be reunified. no situation can split
selection. remember, the jubilation from selection. remember, thejubilation from supporters that their candidate finally won, a due concealed from the flags and confetti flying around. it is happening against a tense geopolitical backdrop. beijing watching because taiwan is their own, they claim. the us is a strong ally to taiwan, added sees it as a partner encountering taiwan s influence and assertiveness in the region. the dpp comes to powerfor a third time with william lai as the leader, maintaining the policy, something beijing would be happy about. many of the voters i ve spoken to have said we have voted, they are in power and how to deliver, notjust on safeguarding and maintaining the peace and making sure the defence capabilities are in place, but also on domestic issues. at the heart of it is economy. the employment and housing. for people
reunification remains consistent and unwavering, their position on that, and they firmly opposed separatist activities. remember, they say the winner of taiwan s presidential election as a separatist, they see him pushing for independence and that s something that they will not tolerate. now, i ve actually been to the province that s closest to taiwan here on mainland china. we spoke to a number of people there, and they say that they feel that taiwan is part of their family. they feel part of one family. and that s something certainly a message that china propagates, that beijing is continually pushing this message of familial ties, that they are one family and that one day they will be unified. but i think the message that the world has heard increasingly over the last few years is certainly beijing s intent, that if peaceful unification cannot be achieved, it will do so by force.
you called them local elections, but that is not how it is seen in taiwan. the taiwanese identity, as we ve seen here, only seems to be growing. the more china friendly party seems to be doing worse. there seems to be a stronger rising sentiment in taiwan to be more independent, even if they are not pushing verbally for independence in the short term. well, i think if you ask chinese ordinary people. i think most ordinary people in china mainland, we have low attention to taiwan elections because we really think it is local elections. if you ask those, i think many of the chinese in the mainland, they want to use force.