Canada and the U.S. congratulated Ma Ying-jeou on his election as Taiwan’s next president, and urged him to work closely with China in keeping peace in the Taiwan Strait.

“It falls to Taiwan and Beijing to build the essential foundations for peace and stability by pursuing dialogue through all available means and refraining from unilateral steps that would alter the cross-Strait situation,” U.S. president George Bush said in a statement.

“I also welcome Ma Ying-jeou’s central election commitment to improve cross-strait relations with China. This is consistent with Canada’s long-standing position that advocates for peaceful dialogue between the concerned parties,” said Maxime Bernier, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Ying-jeou and Taiwan’s opposition party, KMT, were returned to power in elections last weekend. Ying-jeou, 57, defeated the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Frank Hsieh by 2.2 million votes. Ying-jeou immediately pledged to improve ties with China, revive the island’s economy and promote ethnic harmony.

Bush said the election provided a “fresh opportunity” for peaceful resolution of their differences.
China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, while a dwindling number of world nations recognize Taiwan as a nation.

“The maintenance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the welfare of the people on Taiwan remain of profound importance to the United States,” Bush said. “We will continue to maintain close unofficial ties with the people on Taiwan through the American Institute in Taiwan in accordance with our long standing one China policy, our three Joint Communiqués with the People’s Republic of China, and the Taiwan Relations Act.”

The U.S. State Department and Canada’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said the elections were “free and fair” and that the people of Taiwan should be proud of this milestone in their democracy.
Ying-jeou’s election win brings the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) back to power. KMT lost to the DPP in 2000 when KMT’s corrupt and totalitarian rule brought its five-decade rule to an end.

Ying-jeou, the popular Chinese Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) candidate garnered more than 7.6 million votes, or 58.45 per cent of the total vote count.

His Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opponent Frank Hsieh was only able to collect 5.4 million votes or 41.55 per cent of the total vote count out of a turnout of 13.2 million, the commission said. A total of 76.3 per cent of Taiwan’s 17.3 million eligible voters participated.
Ying-jeou 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.

“The Taiwanese people have made their choice through their ballots, and I fully accept their decision,” said Hsieh, who had vowed to quit politics if defeated in the race.

Two referendums, including a controversial one raised by Hsieh’s party asking voters whether the island should join the U.N. under the name Taiwan instead of the official Republic of China title, failed to cross the required participation threshold. Under the law, more than 8.5 million voters were needed in order for the referendum to pass, but only 6.2 million filled.

The failure of the controversial referendum came as a big relief to the U.S., which has strongly opposed the vote, saying it would stoke tension between Taiwan and China, a rival of Taipei since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.