Taiwanese voters elect Vice President Lai as new leader in defiance of China

Voters in Taiwan elected Vice President Lai Ching-te as their next president on Saturday, defying warnings from Beijing not to support a candidate it has called a separatist and a “troublemaker.”

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force against the island, while the U.S. is Taiwan’s most important international backer.

The majority of Taiwan’s 23 million people are in favor of maintaining the status quo, neither formally declaring independence nor becoming part of China.