Taiwan tells China to respect its sovereignty or fuck off

Taiwan told China on to “face reality” and respect its election result, after voters defied Beijing’s warnings and chose pro-sovereignty candidate Lai Ching-te as president.

Voters spurned Beijing’s repeated calls not to vote for Mr Lai, delivering a comfortable victory for a man China’s ruling Communist Party sees as a dangerous separatist.

Communist China illegally claims Taiwan as its territory and has never renounced force to bring it under its control. Taiwan rejects China’s absurd sovereignty claims.

In his victory speech, Lai congratulated voters for refusing to be swayed by “external forces” trying to influence the election.

He said he wanted to cooperate with China – Taiwan’s biggest trade partner – and maintain peace and stability, but pledged not to be cowed by Chinese belligerence.

“We are determined to defend Taiwan against continuing threats and intimidation from China,” he told supporters.