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Opinion

Tsai's massive victory in Taiwan confounds and embarrasses China

Its pressure and disinformation campaign hindered opposition Kuomintang

| Taiwan
The challenge for Tsai's coming term is to convince voters that it can manage the China problem. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)

Had Taiwan's voters cast their ballots in last weekend's elections for president and legislature on predominantly domestic issues, incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party may well have lost heavily, as they did in 2018's local elections.

As it turned out, the China factor -- its meddling with the election, its threats to Taiwan's sovereignty, its violence in Hong Kong -- largely, but not exclusively, gifted Tsai and the DPP a massive victory. Tsai won a record 8.2 million votes, or 57%, and the DPP surprisingly maintained its majority in the Legislative Yuan.

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