Taiwanese president leaves party leadership after pro-Chinese rivals complained

HONG KONG – Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen announced on Saturday his intention to withdraw from the party presidency after heavy mid-term losses against a rival party favorable to closer relations with China.

National elections for local offices were considered a referendum on Tsai's administration two years after she came to power, she became Taiwan's first female president, promising to separate island democracy from Communist Party power and revitalize its gloomy economy.

But her economic management was criticized while she was looking for unpopular reforms of work and pensions, while wage growth – which has been stable since the 1990s – never materialized. At the same time, the Chinese government launched lethal attacks on Tsai, organized military exercises near the island, and worked to isolate Taiwan by overthrowing the diplomatic allegiances of Latin American countries from Taipei to Beijing.

The elections were eclipsed by the claims of the Progressive Democratic Party of Tsai that China was trying to influence the election through a misinformation campaign on social media and illegal financing of pro-Chinese publications. Tsai, however, said on Saturday night that she assumed "full responsibility" for the losses suffered by the PDP and that she acknowledged that this reversal reflected the will of the people on a day when the Taiwanese were lining up. for hours to vote.

"Today, democracy has taught us a lesson," Tsai said Saturday night when his ruling party lost the municipal elections in several major cities to the benefit of the Kuomintang Nationalist Party.

Tsai announced that she would step down as president of the PDP, but should fulfill her term as president until 2020.

It is not immediately clear why the ascendancy of the Kuomintang, respectful of China, could influence Washington's policy. Under the Trump administration, which has taken a tougher stance against Beijing, senior State Department and Pentagon officials have pleaded for increased support from the United States to the island ally in the form of sales. arms and diplomatic support on the international scene.

The United States "congratulates the Taiwanese people for once again demonstrating the strength of its dynamic democratic system through successful elections," the State Department told the media in a statement to the United States. Central News Agency.

The elections also provoked a decisive defeat in the referendum on a measure that would have allowed Taiwan to become the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

Gay rights advocates were optimistic after a Taiwanese court in 2016 declared the island's civil code to be unconstitutional language that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Tsai, who has already expressed support for same-sex marriage, has declined in recent months as its approval rate has dropped and the measure has become a thorny issue that has fueled older conservative voters.