Kuomintang (KMT)

Following the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) recent win of an unprecedented third term in office, Taiwan's legislature has elected Han Kuo-yu, a politician aligned with the China-friendly opposition Kuomintang (KMT), as its new speaker. The appointment signals a divided government in Taiwan, with potential regional implications.

Taiwan's ruling party candidate Lai Ching-te, branded a threat to peace by China, on Saturday won the island's presidential election, a vote watched closely from Beijing to Washington.

Lai delivered an unprecedented third consecutive term for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after a raucous campaign in which he pitched himself as the defender of Taiwan's democratic way of life.

Millions of Taiwanese voted Saturday for a new president in the face of threats from China that choosing the wrong leader could set the stage for war on the self-ruled island.

Tens of thousands of supporters of Taiwan's three political parties will rally Friday as candidates make a last push for votes in an election that China has warned could take the island closer to war.

Taiwan's bustling democracy of 23 million people is separated by a narrow 180-kilometer (110-mile) strait from communist-ruled China, which claims the island as part of its territory.

Taiwanese authorities arrested Lin Hsien-Yuan, an online journalist, who worked for a media outlet called Fingermedia, a few weeks ago over a poll showing pro-China parties on course to win the upcoming January 13 election.

He also pointed to the common origin of the two peoples.
"We are all Chinese," Ma said Tuesday in Nanjing, where he spoke in front of the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. "The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese and both are descendants of the Yan and Yellow Emperors", he added.