Tsai Ing-wen wins in Taiwan's presidential election

Tsai Ing-wen of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has successfully won a second term in Taiwan's 15th presidential election.
The incumbent president has won over a record-breaking 8.1 million votes so far, taking up 57.2 per cent of the turnout, according to latest figures from Taiwanese broadcast channel EBC News.

Tsai had headed in the polls since the start of counting at 4pm.
Tsai said at her international conference in the DPP's campaign center that the victory was a result of Taiwanese's respect for democratic rights. 
Tsai said the results have demonstrated Taiwanese's determination in the face of Beijing's suppression on democracy and sovereignty. She said both Taiwan and Beijing authorities are responsible for maintaining cross-strait security and called for peace, parity, democracy and conservation with China.
She added the party's victory has shown a public will that Taiwan people reject China's proposed model of "One Country, Two Systems".
She appealed for Taiwan people to unite under the banner of democracy in order to overcome challenges. 

Speaking after the international conference, Tsai thanked her supporters and voters for keeping the DPP in office and maintained the majority in the legislature. She also thanked "foreign friends" including Hong Kong people for their support. 

Tsai had frequently spoken up­ for Hong Kong protesters throughout her election campaigns.
Tsai's major competitor Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang party (KMT) has admitted his loss in the election.
Han currently has 5.48 million votes, lagging 2.5 million votes behind Tsai, who leads with a record-breaking 8.1 million votes.
Speaking at the party's campaign headquarter in Kaohsiung, Han said he had called his competitor Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to congratulate her victory in the election.
“Democracy, freedom and rule of law are the important elements in Taiwan, and as election candidates, we need to respect the results,” Han said.
He thanked his supporters and said he had not been diligent enough and failed his supporters.
“I hope we can see Taiwan as one,” said Han.

The DPP will continue to dominate the legislature. The ruling party has already won 48 of the Legislative Yuan's 113 seats, while 22 seats have been taken by KMT. 
Another candidate James Soong Chu-yu of People First Party ranked last in the election with 607,204 votes.

Tsai is expected to serve her upcoming 4 year's term along with running mate William Lam starting from May this year.