Taiwan stocks rose 0.75 percent to 7720.13 points as of 0507GMT on Monday (January 18), after the Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai Ing-wen won the presidential election over the weekend on the island.
Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is less friendly to China, won a convincing victory in both presidential and parliamentary elections on Saturday (January 16), in what could usher in a new round of instability with China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own.
Tsai Ing-wen got a total of 6.89 million ballots, accounting for 56.12% of all ballots, according to Taiwan’s Central Election Commission (CEC).
Taipei resident He Tsung-yi said Tsai’s election victory reflected the desire of many for change.
“(Tsai Ing-wen) Being elected should be expected by the public, because after all, after the same political party rules the country for a long time, we need a new change. After the change I think there should be a new atmosphere in Taiwan,” he said.
Another resident, Chou Chih-ping, cautioned that any economic changes would not be seen in the short-term.
“I think the economic issue should not be judged by whether the stock index performance is good or not within only one or two days. Moreover, this might be a long term issue, I wouldn’t expect this issue will be solved within one or two years. I think it’s an issue (that needs to be) observed over the long term,” he said.
China has never renounced the use of force to take back what it deems a renegade province, particularly if it makes moves toward independence. (Reuters)
