this election. the taiwanese take their democracy seriously, even with chinese threats. we accompanied 20-something joanne, our taiwanese colleague, to cast her ballot. could you live in a taiwan ruled by the chinese communist party? absolutely not. i don t see that, how that can fit taiwanese people s values, our democracy, our freedom. reporter: taiwan s own military, backed by billions in u.s. support, is growing in strength, too. a reminder that one day it might need to rappel a chinese attack. the new president s job is to manage that tone. he says he wants dialogue with china to address tensions, but he is heading into unchartered water. it s late at night here and people are still digesting the implications of this result, and also bracing themselves for a chilly, if not menacing,
the snow continues to fall and blow across roads. the brutal snow creating dangerous driving conditions. caucus big chill. republicans scramble to meet iowa voters this final weekend of campaigning despite the frigid weather. it is cold. plus, taiwan voters choosing a new president, defying china. i m elizabeth palmer in taiwan. voters have just elected a new government, and beijing s not going to be happy. rallying cry. thousands march in the nation s capitol for gaza. new warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe. i m charlie d agata in tel aviv. aid agencies say thousands in gaza, the israeli government faces an international court on charges of genocide. and later, golden gate focus. the photographer capturing
taipei for us tonight. reporter: the democratic progressive party during the campaign had been a little bit ahead in the polls, but this is a ringing victory. at his final rally, supporters turned out to give a last boisterous endorsement to their man. lai ching te, now taiwan s next president. tonight lai said, we showed the world that taiwan stands on the side of democracy. that s not going to go down well in beijing. in president xi jinping s new year s speech he repeated his claim that taiwan belongs to china, and will be, as he puts it, reunified. china is rapidly building up and modernizing its military and has refused to rule out the use of force if taiwan won t come quietly. under president-elect lai, it won t. china has called him a dangerous separatist. there was huge voter turnout in
Relations between China and Taiwan soured after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island in August last year. Recently, China’s foreign minister Qin Gang said that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to China and that “those who play with fire on Taiwan will eventually get themselves burned”.