Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen won a landslide victory on Saturday as voters delivered a stunning rebuke of Beijing's campaign to isolate the self-ruled island and handed its first female leader a second term.

Tsai, 63, was greeted by thousands of jubilant flag-waving supporters outside her party headquarters, hailing a result which looks set to infuriate China.

"Today we have defended our democracy and freedom, tomorrow let us stand united to overcome all challenges and difficulties," she told the cheering crowd.

Official results showed Tsai secured 57 percent of the popular vote with a record-breaking 8.2 million ballots, 1.3 million more than her 2016 victory.

Her main rival Han Kuo-yu, from the China-friendly Kuomintang, racked up 39 percent and conceded defeat.

The result is a blow for Beijing, which views Taiwan as part of China and has made no secret of wanting to see Tsai turfed out.

Over the last four years it ramped up economic, military and diplomatic pressure on the self-ruled island, hoping it would scare voters into supporting Tsai's opposition.

But the strong arm tactics backfired and voters flocked to her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), fuelled in part by China's hardline response to months of huge and violent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

In the United States, Taiwan's primary military ally, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saluted Tsai's "commitment to maintaining cross-Strait stability in the face of unrelenting pressure".

- 'No threats' -

Tsai pitched herself as a defender of liberal democratic values against the increasingly authoritarian shadow cast by China under President Xi Jinping.

Beijing has vowed to one day retake the island, by force if necessary. It loathes Tsai because she refuses to acknowledge the idea that Taiwan is part of "one China".

Her campaign frequently invoked Hong Kong's protests as a warning of what might lie ahead should China one day take control of Taiwan.

During her victory speech Tsai said she was committed to dialogue with China's leaders and wanted peace.

But she called on Beijing to halt its sabre- rattling towards Taiwan and respect the idea that only the island's 23 million inhabitants can decide its future.

"Today I want to once again remind the Beijing authorities that peace, parity, democracy and dialogue are the keys to stability," Tsai said.

"I want the Beijing authorities to know that democratic Taiwan and our democratically elected government will never concede to threats".

But China is also Taiwan's largest trade partner, leaving the island in a precariously dependent relationship.

After Tsai's speech, Chinese state media carried a short statement from the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office saying Beijing "opposed any form of Taiwanese independence splittist attempts".

Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang later told Xinhua state media that Beijing continues to "uphold the basic principles of 'peaceful reunification' and 'one country, two systems' and the one-China principle."

While strongly opposing Taiwanese independence, "we are ready to work with Taiwan compatriots" to promote peaceful ties and "advance the process toward the peaceful reunification of the motherland," Ma said.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told Xinhua that he hoped the international community will "understand and support the just cause of Chinese people to oppose the secessionist activities for 'Taiwan independence' and realize national reunification."

Han, the 62-year-old mayor of the southern city of Kaohsiung, favoured warmer ties with China -- saying it would boost Taiwan's fortunes -- and accused the current administration of needlessly antagonising Beijing.

But his campaign struggled to gain momentum or escape the perception that he was too cosy with Taiwan's giant neighbour.

Turnout in the poll was 75 percent, a jump of nearly 10 percent from Tsai's first presidential election victory four years ago.

Official results showed the DPP managed to retain its majority in the island's unicameral parliament with 61 out of 113 seats, while the KMT took 38 seats.

- Carrot or stick? -

Tsai's victory is the second major electoral setback for Beijing in recent weeks.

In November, Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp scored a landslide win over pro-Beijing parties in district elections as the city convulses with months of anti-government protests.

"Tsai's landslide victory is like a slap in the face to Beijing as Taiwanese voters say no to its intimidation," Hung Chin-fu, a political analyst at Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University, told AFP.

Joshua Eisenman, a foreign affairs expert the University of Notre Dame, said all eyes will be watching China's response.

"Will the hardline position towards Tsai... be continued or will Beijing adopt a more 'soft sell' approach that is more carrot and less stick?" he said.

Taiwanese voters have watched events in Hong Kong closely because the financial hub is run on Beijing's "one country, two systems" model.

China has suggested the same model could one day be applied to Taiwan if the island ever came to be controlled by Beijing.

But an increasing number of Taiwanese voters are spooked by that proposal.

"I don't want Taiwan's democracy to turn into how Hong Kong is now," Dennis Wu, a doctor, told AFP as he cast a vote for Tsai in the capital Taipei.

US hails Taiwan leader's re-election, 'robust' democracy
Washington (AFP) Jan 11, 2020 - The United States congratulated Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen for her re-election Saturday, hailing it as a demonstration of the self-ruled island's "robust democratic system."

The US State Department issued a statement praising Tsai shortly after final results showed her winning by a landslide in what was widely seen as a blow to China.

The US statement praised Tsai for developing a strong partnership with Washington and for her "commitment to maintaining cross-Strait stability in the face of unrelenting pressure."

"Under her leadership, we hope Taiwan will continue to serve as a shining example for countries that strive for democracy, prosperity, and a better path for their people," it said.

Final results showed her winning 57 percent of the vote against 39 percent for the Kuomintang party's Han Kuo-yu, who conceded defeat.

China had ramped up economic and diplomatic pressure on the island under Tsai's first term, but its tactics backfired amid public concern fueled in part by Beijing's hardline response to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

The State Department congratulated Taiwan "for once again demonstrating the strength of its robust democratic system, which -- coupled with a free market economy and a vibrant civil society -- makes it a model for the Indo-Pacific region and a force for good in the world."

'We want this': Hong Kong election tourists join Taiwan rallies
Taipei (AFP) Jan 11, 2020 - At a raucous election rally for Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, Hong Konger Karen Leung surveyed the huge crowd of excited flag-waving voters as a rap song blasted over the loudspeakers and sighed: "We want to have elections like this."

Leung is one of scores of Hong Kong election tourists who have travelled to Taiwan this week to witness something denied to them -- universal suffrage.

Tsai, who is seeking a second term, has repeatedly invoked the seven months of pro-democracy protests engulfing the financial hub as a warning call for what might happen should Beijing succeed in its wish to one day take control of Taiwan.

Her opponent Han Kuo-yu of the Kuomintang party favours warmer ties with China, but has also promised to defend the island's freedoms.

In the days running up to Saturday's presidential and parliamentary elections, Hong Kongers have become an increasingly common sight at Tsai's rallies.

"I feel like there is hope here (in Taiwan)," Leung, a 26-year-old accountant, told AFP after getting a tote bag stamped with Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests slogans at a booth on the sidelines of Tsai's final rally on Friday night.

"Taiwan has its freedom and they are standing up to China," she added.

Hong Kong's democracy activists have long maintained close ties with Taipei, an island that transitioned from decades of dictatorship into one of Asia's most liberal democracies.

But months of violent pro-democracy protests in the city has intensified Taiwanese interest -- as debate rages about how close to tack to its giant authoritarian neighbour.

The phrase "Today Hong Kong, tomorrow Taiwan" has become a popular slogan among supporters of Tsai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

- Long struggle -

Kyle, a 26-year-old Hong Konger at Tsai's Friday night rally, said he took inspiration from how Taiwan shook off its own dictatorship under Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek and also have resisted pressure from Beijing's communist leadership.

"The people of Taiwan bled and even sacrificed their lives until they had democracy," he said.

"In Hong Kong, we only have struggled for several years in fighting for democracy, so there is no reason for us to give up so quickly."

The island does not recognise the concept of asylum. But under Tsai's administration, officials have turned a blind eye to dozens of Hong Kongers who have fled there -- and Taiwanese supporters have also sent gas masks and helmets to protesters.

"The movement in the past year has brought Hong Kong and Taiwan closer," Ivy, a 36-year-old social worker who travelled from the city, told AFP.

"Taiwan has helped Hong Kong. They didn't drive away the Hong Kong youngsters who fled our city," she said at the Tsai rally.

A smattering of the financial hub's flag and pro-demonstration slogans have now become commonplace at Tsai's rallies.

When Tsai appeared at a Thursday night rally, the crowd shouted the popular protest chant: "Free Hong Kong, revolution of our times."

Some Taiwanese have even dressed up as protesters from the restive city.

A 19-year-old, who gave his surname Lu, was greeting participants draped in a pro-democracy Hong Kong flag and wearing a yellow construction helmet -- a symbol of the city's protests -- and holding a placard urging young people to vote.

"I'm showing my support for the Hong Kong frontline protesters who are fighting the police," he said. "I am worried that what's happening in Hong Kong could happen in Taiwan."

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