Mar 22, 2008, 12:21 GMT
Taipei - Taiwan's opposition front-runner, Ma Ying-jeou, swept to a landslide victory in the presidential election on Saturday, the Central Election Commission confirmed.
The popular Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) candidate garnered more than 7.6 million votes, far ahead of the 5.4 million votes received by his ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opponent Frank Hsieh, according the last available count.
'Today's victory is not my victory or the victory of one political party. It is the victory of the Taiwan people who want reform and change,' Ma told supporters outside his campaign headquarters.
Ma said he shoulders heavy responsibilities. 'We will transform our people's desires into concrete policies and improve people's lives and build up our country,' he said.
Ma's election marks the end of the DPP's hold on power on the self-governing island of 23 million people after the KMT crushed the pro-independence party in January's parliamentary elections.
At the DPP's campaign headquarters, a sombre-faced Hsieh bowed to his supporters, apologizing for letting them down and saying he would shoulder all responsibilities for the party's election defeat.
More than 75 per cent of Taiwan's 17.3 million eligible voters went to vote, the commission said.
Ma will take up his post on May 20 when President Chen Shui-bian steps down after serving two four-year terms, the longest tenure for a Taiwan leader.
The new president has promised to improve trade with China and open up a 'common market,' including the ending of a decades-old ban on direct flights and shipping connections between the island and the mainland so that Taiwan can benefit more from China's economic boom.
Ma has adopted a more moderate approach to Beijing than his predecessor, but he has condemned the recent crackdown on Tibetan protestors and even suggested a possible boycott of the Olympic Games to be held in China in the summer.
Outgoing President Chen issued a note of warning ahead of the vote.
'The new leader should be someone who can safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty and security, and prevent Taiwan's becoming the second Hong Kong, second Tibet or China's special zone,' he said.
But fears over China's actions in Tibet did not stop people voting for Ma.
Relations between Beijing's Communist Party and the KMT have warmed since 2005 when the two parties met for the first time since the end of the Chinese Civil war in 1949.
Beijing has since adopted a policing of feting the KMT while sidelining Chen.
The Taiwanese also voted on two UN referendums, one sponsored by the government and the other by the KMT.
The KMT's referendum called for flexible ways to seek UN entry, while the government one proposed joining the UN under the name Taiwan rather than the island's official Republic of China title.
The electoral commission has given no indication of the referendum results, or even whether the required 50-per-cent participation rate was reached.
China is closely watching the UN referendum, which it strongly opposes as a move towards formal independence, but even if it passes, there is no hope of Taiwan entering the UN given Beijing's opposition.
The US has dispatched two aircraft carriers to Taiwanese waters to guard against possible military conflict on election day.
More than 500 foreign reporters and 500 foreign observers have arrived in Taiwan to cover and monitor the election.
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