2024 Taiwanese presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 13 January 2024 as part of the 2024 general elections.[1][2] Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the incumbent president of the Republic of China, was ineligible for reelection due to term limits. As such, the DPP nominated Vice President Lai Ching-te, who had secured the party chairmanship by acclamation in March 2023. He selected Hsiao Bi-khim, the then-Representative to the United States, as his running mate. Lai was elected president with a plurality of 40.05% and is scheduled to be inaugurated on 20 May 2024.[3][4][5]
Registered
19,548,531
71.86% (
3.04pp)
The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) nominated the incumbent New Taipei mayor Hou Yu-ih as their candidate for president in May 2023. In November, Hou chose the former Legislative Yuan member Jaw Shaw-kong to be his running mate. The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) nominated Ko Wen-je, its leader, the former Mayor of Taipei, who in turn chose Legislative Yuan member Cynthia Wu as his running mate. Despite previously saying he would support Hou's nomination, businessman Terry Gou declared his own independent bid in September 2023, before ultimately dropping out in November. Although the KMT and TPP had initially agreed to field a joint ticket in November 2023, the two sides were unable to reach a final agreement, and each announced their own vice presidential candidate on the last day of registration.
This presidential election had a turnout rate of 71.86%, which was a 3.04pp reduction from the 2020 election. This marked the first time since the 2000 election that the winning candidate obtained less than 50% of the vote, and the first time that a party won more than two consecutive presidential elections since direct elections were introduced in 1996.
International reactions[edit]
People's Republic of China[edit]
During the voting, the hashtag "Taiwan election" became a top-trending topic in Weibo, at one point reaching 163.2 million views before it was removed. Chinese state media also provided little coverage on the vote.[132]
Following Lai's victory, the Taiwan Affairs Office said the elections "cannot stop the unstoppable trend of the eventual reunification of the motherland" and that the DPP "cannot represent the mainstream public opinion" in Taiwan.[133] A mainland China foreign ministry spokesperson said that regardless of the election result, "the basic fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China will not change."[130] In response, the Taiwan-run Mainland Affairs Council urged Beijing to "fully respect the election results and Taiwan's public opinion," and "rationally assess" the post-election situation.[134]
The government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) lodged formal complaints after Japan and the United States expressed congratulations to Lai, warning them against interfering in "China's internal affairs", sending wrong signals to Taiwanese independence advocates, and violating pledges to maintain only unofficial ties with Taiwan.[135][136] It also made démarches to Singapore after its foreign ministry welcomed and congratulated the election,[137] and summoned Philippine ambassador Jaime FlorCruz following President Bongbong Marcos' congatulatory message to Lai.[138]
During election day, eight Chinese military aircraft and six naval vessels were detected by Taiwan's Defense Ministry.[139] On 14 January, a day after Lai's victory was confirmed, four Chinese military vessels and a high-altitude balloon were detected around Taiwan.[140]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan alleged that China encouraged Nauru to shift diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China, coerced ASEAN countries to "echo the fictitious narrative of the so-called 'one China principle" and instigated statements made by the Solomon Islands, the Maldives, and Bangladesh which disparaged Taiwan's sovereignty status.[141]