Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen she resigned as leader of his party, the Democratic Progressive Party, after a defeat in Saturday’s local elections. The nationalist party prevailed in the elections, decidedly more open to dialogue between China and Taiwan, the small state where in 1949 the Chinese defeated by Mao Tse Tung in the Chinese civil war took refuge. Tsai is 66 years old and has been the president of Taiwan (a role he will continue to hold) since 2016. His tenure as chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party began in 2014.
Local elections on Saturday voted, among other things, to elect the mayors of some of the main cities of Taiwan, including the capital Taipei, where Chiang Wan-an, candidate of the nationalist Kuomintang party, the party of the first Chinese exiles, who ruled the country from 1949 until 1987.
Several observers have pointed out that, despite the recent tensions linked to relations with China, there was often talk of something else during the electoral campaign, generally of more local issues. The Democratic Progressive Party, which was reconfirmed in government in 2020 by virtue of the economic growth guaranteed to the country, had also been criticized in recent months for its handling of the pandemic.
