TOKYO, January 14. /TASS/. Taiwan's relations with China will remain stable under the island's new administration, but without obvious opportunities for development, Yasuhiro Matsuda, professor of international politics at the University of Tokyo, told the Japanese newspaper Asahi.
"The Chinese authorities continue to exert pressure on Taiwan, and the elected head of the island's administration, Lai Ching-te, has been personally attacked by Beijing in harsh terms. It is hard to imagine that the two sides will be able to arrange a summit of leaders. Taiwan-China relations are likely to remain stable, but without clear opportunities for further development," the expert said.
Matsuda pointed out the China "will pay close attention to what Lai Ching-te has to say during his inaugural speech in May." "Meanwhile, the US presidential election will also be held this year. Therefore, Beijing is likely to focus on the economy until the policies of the new US administration are announced," the professor noted.
Elections for Taiwan's president and members of the Legislative Yuan (the island's highest legislative body) were held on January 13. Vice President Lai Ching-te, also representing the currently ruling DPP, won the election with 40.05% of the vote. Hou Yu-ih, a politician from the pro-alignment Kuomintang, which favors rapprochement with mainland China received 33.49%, while Ko Wen-je, chairman of the centrist Taiwanese People's Party, received 26.46%. The opposition conceded defeat in the election.
Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Since then, Taiwan has retained the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China that existed on the mainland before the Communists took power. Official Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China.