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Taiwan opposition wins mayorship Taipei in setback for President Tsai

Sunday, 27 November 2022



TAIPEI, Nov 26 (Reuters): Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) won control of the Taipei mayorship on Saturday in a setback for President Tsai Ing-wen, who had framed the local elections as being about showing defiance to China's rising bellicosity.
The elections for mayors, county chiefs and local councillors are ostensibly about domestic issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and crime, and those elected will not have a direct say on China policy.
But Tsai, who leads the ruling Democratic Progr-essive Party (DPP), had recast the election as being more than a local vote, saying the world is watching how Taiwan defends its democracy amid military tensions with China, which claims the island as its territory.
Both the DPP and KMT, which traditionally favours close ties with China though denies being pro-Beijing, had concentrated their campaign efforts in wealthy and populous northern Taiwan, especially 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 told supporters, adding he has offered his "sincere" congratulations to the KMT's Wayne Chiang in a telephone call, and urged people to continue to support Tsai.