Taiwan opposition party takes control of mayoral races

TAIPEI: Taiwan's main opposition party, Kuomintang KMT, won control of the Taipei mayorship on Saturday November 26 in a setback for President Tsai Ing-wen, who had framed the local elections as showing defiance to China's rising bellicosity.

The election of mayors, county chiefs and local councillors is about domestic issues such as the COVID - 19 epidemic and crime, and those elected won't have a direct say on China policy.

But Tsai, who leads the Democratic Progressive Party DPP, has recast the election as more than a local vote, saying the world is watching how Taiwan defends its democracy amid military tensions with China, which claims the island is its territory.

Both the DPP and KMT, which traditionally favours close ties with China, but denies being pro-Beijing, focused their campaign efforts on wealthy and populous northern Taiwan, including the capital Taipei, whose mayor from the small Taiwan People's Party could not run again due to term limits.

I have let everyone down, the DPP's Taipei mayor candidate Chen Shih-chung said to supporters, he has offered his sincere congratulations to the KMT's Wayne Chiang in a telephone call, and urged people to continue to support Tsai.

In August, China held war games near Taiwan to express anger at a visit to Taipei by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and its military activities have continued, though on a reduced scale.

The KMT swept the 2018 local elections and accused Tsai and the DPP of being overly confrontational with China.

Initial results show that the KMT is leading in the majority of the 21 city mayor and county chief races across the island.

The election took place a month after the 20th Congress of China's Communist Party, where President Xi Jinping secured an unprecedented third term in office - a point Tsai has repeatedly made on the campaign trail.