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internationally recognised state, and that still stands today. although the american presidentjoe biden has made it clear he would defend taiwan, he has used that phrase before, if china were to attack it, he has also made it clear the secretary of state antony blinken at formal independence is not something they would support, so the limbo status quo that we have todayis the limbo status quo that we have today is really what is likely to remain. it's been shown that it's probably supported by about 80% of taiwan's on voters.— taiwan's on voters. china was worried about _ taiwan's on voters. china was worried about william - taiwan's on voters. china was worried about william lai - taiwan's on voters. china was worried about william lai andj taiwan's on voters. china was - worried about william lai and said they have concerns about the result but william lai has actually softened his rhetoric when it comes to formal independence. yes. softened his rhetoric when it comes to formal independence.— softened his rhetoric when it comes to formal independence. yes, i think that's more — to formal independence. yes, i think that's more what _ to formal independence. yes, i think that's more what beijing _ to formal independence. yes, i think that's more what beijing was - to formal independence. yes, i think that's more what beijing was hoping | that's more what beijing was hoping for, they were pretty sure that he was going to win. he was odds—on favourite to do so and he has in fact won by a clear margin. what they wanted to do was make sure he didn't feel any temptation to push his rhetoric beyond what he had said before and what his predecessor
in yemen, that's as president biden says the us has delivered a private message to iran about the houthis. the israeli prime minister says that nothing will deter israel's determination to pursue the war in gaza, including the international court ofjustice in the hague. translation: no-one will stop us, not the hague, i not the axis of evil and no—one else. we begin in taiwan, where voters have ignored china's repeated warnings not to vote for william lai from the ruling party, the dpp. he will replace tsai ing—wen as president after securing 40% of the vote, though the dpp lost its majority in parliament, making it hard for him to pass legislation.
president tsai ing—wen had said, not going for some more radicalform of declared independence. it seems beijing's rhetoric worked to that extent, he stuck to his position but hasn't gone further than he might have done had they not made that particular threat.— have done had they not made that particular threat. could you explain for us, because _ particular threat. could you explain for us, because i— particular threat. could you explain for us, because i think _ particular threat. could you explain for us, because i think it's - particular threat. could you explain for us, because i think it's really i for us, because i think it's really important to highlight the fact this isjust about taiwan, important to highlight the fact this is just about taiwan, this has important to highlight the fact this isjust about taiwan, this has much broader implications. why is this relationship between china and taiwan so important when it comes to global diplomacy?— global diplomacy? china and the united states _ global diplomacy? china and the united states see _ global diplomacy? china and the united states see the _ global diplomacy? china and the united states see the status - global diplomacy? china and the united states see the status of i united states see the status of taiwan in two different ways. china regards it as the last unfinished business of the cold war. in the communist party took over china in 1949, taiwan was the only province they never managed to capture and they never managed to capture and they consider that unfinished business. forthe they consider that unfinished business. for the united states today, there are two reasons they consider taiwan important. one, today, there are two reasons they considertaiwan important. one, it's a democracy in the region and they believe that if china were to take
of getting closer to china. the kmt is the party xi jinping would prefer to see running this island. instead, voters gave the party he loathes an historic third presidential win. now everybody is waiting to see how china's leader will respond. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in taipei. let's cross now to prof rana mitter, who is the professor of us asia relations at harvard kennedy school. thank you forjoining us. i first want to focus on the relationship with the united states because it's a little complicated, the united states backs taiwan and yet they are not pushing for a formal independence, are they? they absolutely _ independence, are they? they absolutely are _ independence, are they? they absolutely are not, _ independence, are they? they absolutely are not, this - independence, are they? they absolutely are not, this is - absolutely are not, this is something that has been an issue for more than 50 years. when the people's republic of china was recognised by the united states back in the 1970s, part of the overall deal was that they would not acknowledge taiwan as a separate
china warned the people of taiwan not to vote for this man. they said he is a troublemaker who will take the island closer to war. well, tonight they have given their answer — by electing him their new president. speaking to the international media following his victory, president—elect lai was quick to offer beijing an olive branch. translation: over the last eight years we have tried - continuously to extend goodwill. unfortunately, china has not responded to these gestures. we hope in the future china will realise peace serves the interests of both sides. for taiwan's main opposition party, the kmt, it was another humiliation. it had run on a platform
over, its democracy would essentially be very quickly extinguished, like hong kong a couple of years ago. the second reason is strategic. if china's mary was able to operate off the coast of taiwan, the western pacific ocean would essentially be dominated by china and allies such as japan don't want that to happen, so two very different world views from each side as to why taiwan is important. when it comes to — as to why taiwan is important. when it comes to william _ as to why taiwan is important. when it comes to william lai _ as to why taiwan is important. when it comes to william lai and - as to why taiwan is important. when it comes to william lai and the - it comes to william lai and the legislature result, how tied are his hands right now? how much power will he really have?— he really have? you'll have to do some negotiations. _ he really have? you'll have to do some negotiations. the - he really have? you'll have to do l some negotiations. the legislature actually is split, the kmt actually have won more seats than the dpp and the third party, the tpp are in the middle, so a bit of negotiation is likely but everyone shares one view is that they want the taiwan status quo to remain, they want to preserve taiwan's important semiconductor industry, so there will be lots of
mr lai says he will maintain the status quo in relations with china, which has labelled him a troublemaker and a "dangerous separatist". in his victory speech, he pledged to use dialogue rather than confrontation when it comes to exchanges with china, and said he hoped beijing understood that peace will benefit both sides. china claims reunification with taiwan is inevitable despite the vote, and says that it opposes separatist activities. rupert wingfield—hayes reports from taipei. onto stage, the man who will now be taiwan's next president. in the end, william lai won the election by a larger margin than expected. china's campaign to intimidate voters here not to choose him failed. his supporters say, if anything, it had the opposite effect.