TAIPEI, Nov 24 — Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said today she was resigning as chairwoman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party after mayoral election defeats.

Tsai also told a news conference that she had not accepted the resignation of her premier, William Lai, who had offered to quit earlier in the evening. — Reuters </s> TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan Premier William Lai said on Saturday he had offered his resignation to the president, after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party was trounced in mayoral elections.

“The election results showed that people are not satisfied. For this, I feel sorry, and have offered my resignation to President Tsai Ing-wen to accept political responsibility,” he wrote in a statement on his Facebook page. </s> Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen casts her vote for the local elections in New Taipei City, Taiwan, November 24, 2018. Chang Haoan/Pool/via REUTERS

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Saturday she was resigning as chairwoman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party after mayoral election defeats.

Tsai also told a news conference that she had not accepted the resignation of her premier, William Lai, who had offered to quit earlier in the evening. </s> (CNN) - Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen announced her resignation Saturday as head of the Democratic Progressive Party after the party suffered a "crushing defeat" in local government elections, according to state media.

The Central News Agency reported Tsai apologized to supporters for the ruling party's "disappointing performance" in a speech at its headquarters, and she took full responsibility for the party's losses.

Although she resigned as the party head, Tsai -- the first woman to be elected President of Taiwan -- will serve out the remainder of her term. The next presidential election is scheduled for January 2020.

According to CNA, Tsai said while her administration is moving in the right direction, the election results were proof that the Taiwanese people are setting a higher standard for their government.

The pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party is expected to undergo a "major reshuffle" soon, Tsai said, to prepare for the challenges ahead, CNA reported.

Premier Lai Ching-te echoed Tsai in a Facebook post, saying the election results indicated the public's dissatisfaction with the government's performance.

Lai had offered to resign earlier Saturday and take ownership of the party's defeat, but Tsai asked him to stay on as premier to ensure the continuity of the government's policies and initiatives.

Tsai was elected President in a landslide victory in January 2016 after a political career mostly as an outsider. She joined the Democratic Progressive Party in 2004 and was its chairwoman by 2008. She lost her first bid for presidency in 2012 and resigned as the party head before taking the mantle back up in 2014.

Tsai is a lawyer by training and first studied at National Taiwan University before continuing her studies by earning a master of law degree from Cornell University and then a doctorate from the London School of Economics.

Copyright 2018 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> TAIPEI: Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen resigned as leader of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Saturday (Nov 24) after the pro-independence party suffered major defeats in key mid-term polls, a blow to her prospects for re-election.

"As chairperson of the ruling party, I will take complete responsibility for the outcome of today's local elections," Tsai told reporters.

"I resign as DPP chairperson. Our efforts weren't enough and we let down all our supporters who fought with us. I want to express our most sincere apologies."

DPP lost its traditional stronghold of Kaohsiung city for the first time in 20 years, and was also defeated in the second-largest city of Taichung.



The local elections were seen as a mid-term test for Tsai, as she faces a backlash over domestic reforms and concerns about deteriorating ties with China.



The results of the polls, being held a little more than a year ahead of Taiwan's next presidential elections, will be closely watched in China, which claims self-ruled and proudly democratic Taiwan as its own. 



Both Kaohsiung and Taichung were won by the China-friendly opposition, the Kuomintang.

Tsai said the DPP would reflect on the defeat, but she vowed to press on.

"Continuing reforms, freedom and democracy, and protecting the country's sovereignty are the mission that the DPP would not abandon," she told reporters.

Tsai said she would not accept the resignation of her premier William Lai, who had offered to quit earlier in the evening.

Lai wrote on his Facebook page: "The election results showed that people are not satisfied. For this, I feel sorry, and have offered my resignation to President Tsai Ing-wen to accept political responsibility."



The DPP held on in two of its other strongholds though: Tainan in the island's south and Taoyuan in the north.

Votes are still being counted in Taiwan's capital Taipei, where the incumbent mayor Ko Wen-je, an independent, is in a close race with the Kuomintang's Ting Shou-chung, and the DPP is running a distant third.

Taiwan television stations reported a high turn out, with some polling stations in parts of Taipei and Kaohsiung remaining open past 4pm (0800GMT) when the polls were supposed to close.

Candidates fanned out across the island to press the flesh and canvass votes, and held noisy, colourful rallies that have become the hallmarks of Taiwan's vibrant democracy, in marked contrast to China where the Communist Party tolerates no dissent to its rule.

Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have heightened with China conducting military drills around the island and snatching away Taiwan's dwindling number of diplomatic allies.

Tsai's domestic reform initiatives, from the island's pension scheme to labour law, have also come under intense voter scrutiny recently.

Confidence in the government has waned in recent months after reform moves upset both the opposition and some supporters, who said Tsai had backed away from promises to reduce the deficit and cut pollution.

Underscoring Tsai's challenge are a series of public votes also held on Saturday on whether to make same-sex marriage legal, an issue which has deeply divided Taiwan.

"This is a small step for myself, but a big step for mankind," Chi Chia-wei, a veteran gay rights activist who had petitioned Taiwan's constitutional court to take up the issue, told Reuters after he voted.

Tsai has made little progress despite campaigning on a promise of marriage equality in the run-up to elections in 2016.

In Asia's first such ruling, Taiwan's constitutional court declared in May last year that same-sex couples had the right to legally marry, and set a two-year deadline for legalisation.

Voters will also be asked whether the island should join the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as Taiwan, rather than "Chinese Taipei" – the name agreed under a compromise signed in 1981.

A vote to compete under a Taiwan banner would further rile Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

Results for the referendum votes may not come out until the early hours of Sunday morning, according to election officials. </s> Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen named Su Tseng-chang as the island's new prime minister on Friday following the resignation Lai Ching-te and the members his government over the recent electoral setback suffered by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

The president announced the appointment at a press conference in which both the incoming and outgoing premiers were present, state-run agency CNA reported on Friday. </s> Taiwan Premier William Lai said on Thursday he was resigning along with the self-ruled island's entire cabinet, nearly two months after the defeat of his ruling pro-independence party in local elections.

[TAIPEI] Taiwan Premier William Lai said on Thursday he was resigning along with the self-ruled island's entire cabinet, nearly two months after the defeat of his ruling pro-independence party in local elections.

The election losses present a major challenge to President Tsai Ing-wen who has come under mounting domestic criticism over her reform agenda while facing renewed threats from China, which considers the island its own.

Mr Lai's departure was widely expected. It is standard practice in Taiwan for leaders to go when their party loses a major election. The DPP suffered a significant defeat in November to the China-friendly opposition Kuomintang.

It is also customary for the cabinet to step down when the premier resigns.

"The time is up. I will call a special cabinet meeting tomorrow and resign along with the entire cabinet," Mr Lai told reporters in parliament, adding that Ms Tsai had approved his resignation.

Ms Tsai, who is also from the DPP, was expected to announce a new premier, Mr Lai said, and ministerial appointments would follow.

Taiwan's elected president appoints the premier, who forms the cabinet and runs the government on a day-to-day basis.

Analysts said Ms Tsai, who faces a presidential election in about a year, must shore up public support for her policy on relations with Beijing and boost the island's export-reliant economy in a challenging year amid the China-US trade dispute.

Chinese President Xi Jinping this month threatened to use force to bring democratic Taiwan under Beijing's rule and urged "reunification" with the island.

Mr Xi has stepped up pressure on Taiwan since Ms Tsai became president in 2016.

Ms Tsai has said her administration would reflect upon on the election defeat but would stand firm to defend Taiwan's democracy in the face of renewed Chinese threats.

Some from within the embattled leader's party have urged Ms Tsai not to seek re-election. She has not explicitly said whether she would run for president in 2020.

The latest tension with China is credit negative for Taiwan and would hurt the island's economy, Moody's said in a report this week. </s> The resignation of Taiwan's premier has raised the possibility of changes in the island's troubled relationship with mainland China.

The Presidential Office said on its website Monday that President Tsai Ing-wen had reluctantly accepted Lin Chuan's resignation.

Tsai is to announce a successor on Tuesday, with the official Central News Agency saying her pick will be William Lai, mayor of the southern city of Tainan who has advocated seeking common ground with China.

China cut off contacts with Tsai's government more than a year ago because of her refusal to endorse Beijing's view that Taiwan is a part of China. The sides separated amid civil war in 1949 and China continues to threaten force to gain control over the island of 23 million people. </s> TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The Latest on local elections in Taiwan (all times local):

China says the results of local elections in Taiwan, where President Tsai Ing-wen’s independence-leaning party suffered a major defeat, reflect a desire for better relations between the mainland and the self-ruled island.

Ma Xiaoguang, the spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, says “we have noticed the results of the elections.” He says they reflected “the strong will of the public in Taiwan in sharing the benefits of the peaceful development across the Taiwan Strait, and desires to improve the island’s economy and people’s well-being.”

He says his government will continue to treat Taiwan as part of China and “resolutely oppose separatist elements advocating ‘Taiwan independence’ and their activities.”

The elections for mayors and thousands of local posts were seen as a key test for the 2-year-old administration of Tsai, whom Beijing has relentlessly attacked over her refusal to endorse its claim that Taiwan is a part of China.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has resigned as head of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to take responsibility for a major defeat suffered by her party in local elections.

Tsai will remain as president and her resignation will have no direct effect on the business of government. At a brief news conference at DPP headquarters late Saturday following the elections, Tsai also said she had refused Premier William Lai’s resignation, saying she wanted him to continue her reform agenda.

Tsai said: “Today, democracy taught us a lesson. We must study and accept the higher expectations of the people.”

The elections for mayors and thousands of local posts are seen as a key test for the 2-year-old administration of Tsai, whom Beijing has relentlessly attacked over her refusal to endorse its claim that Taiwan is a part of China.

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party has suffered a major defeat in local elections seen as a referendum on the island’s president amid growing pressure from China.

Saturday’s elections for mayors and thousands of local posts are a key test for the 2-year-old administration of President Tsai Ing-wen, whom Beijing has relentlessly attacked over her refusal to endorse its claim that Taiwan is a part of China.

Tsai’s DPP lost the mayorship to the Nationalist party in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, where it had held power for 20 years. The Nationalists ruled Taiwan for decades after it split from mainland China in 1949 amid civil war.

The Nationalists also defeated the DPP in the central city of Taichung, while Ko Wen-je, the independent mayor of Taipei, the capital, appeared on track for a second term.

Taiwanese have begun voting in midterm local elections seen as a referendum on the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen, amid growing pressure from the island’s powerful rival China.

The elections that follow Tsai’s landslide victory in 2016 will decide the races for 22 mayors and county magistrates along with thousands of local officials.

Driven from power two years ago, the opposition Nationalists hope to regain territory by counting on their pro-business image and a more accommodating line toward Beijing.

Since her election in 2016, Tsai has maintained Taiwan’s de facto independent status while avoiding calls to declare formal separation from the mainland.

China has been ratcheting up pressure on the island it claims as its own territory by poaching away its diplomatic partners, cutting official contacts and staging threatening military exercises. </s> TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has accepted the resignation of Premier Lin Chuan, the ruling party said on Monday, a departure that had been widely expected because of the president’s falling public support.

FILE PHOTO: Taiwan's former finance minister Lin Chuan speaks during a news conference after he was announced as premier, in Taipei, Taiwan March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Taiwan presidents often shuffle premiers in response to dips in popularity. Lin had faced mounting pressure to step down as Tsai’s popularity plummeted to 29.8 percent by August, a private foundation survey has shown.

When she took office in May 2016, her approval rating was as high as 70 percent.

“The president has accepted his resignation after sincere talks,” Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said in a statement.

Under Taiwan’s system, the president is the more important office, holding the jobs of commander in chief and head of state. The prime minister is appointed by the president to lead the cabinet.

Tsai is likely to be looking ahead to her 2020 re-election campaign.

Frozen relations with China, a backlash over pension reforms and a revised labor rule, among other controversies, have put pressure on her to replace Lin, in preparation for that campaign.

Lin said the party had “reached a point where we must embark on the next stage of the mission”.

“So I’ve resigned to pave the way for the president to re-organize her team and resources for that purpose,” he said.

The presidential office said a new premier would be announced on Tuesday.

‘BITING THE BULLET’

William Lai, the popular mayor of the southern city of Tainan and a leading DPP figure, is widely expected to replace Lin.

A Lai premiership would not necessary help the president to improve her ratings, some analysts said.

“They need a reboot, because current ratings for both are low,” said Alex Huang, a professor of Tamkang University, Taipei, referring to Tsai and Lin, adding that it must have been a hard decision for Tsai because of their friendship.

“Lin is sort of biting the bullet to clear the path ahead for the president and the next premier,” Huang said.

Some representatives of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) have expressed scepticism that Tsai would build an effective partnership with Lai, if he did replace Lin.

FILE PHOTO: Taiwan president-elect Tsai Ing-wen shakes hands with former finance minister Lin Chuan (L), during a news conference announcing Lin as premier, in Taipei, Taiwan March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

“I’d like to see how they both work together,” said Lai Shyh-bao, a KMT legislator. “Both Tsai and Lai have reputations for being overbearing and domineering.”

Lin has been criticized not just by legislators from the opposition, but also from his own DPP. Tsai had praised him as “a great communicator” when she introduced him last year.

Lin, a close confidant of the president who retains her trust, could become the next central bank governor when current governor Perng Fai-nan retires next year.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen resigns as leader of the Democratic Progressives and refuses Prime Minister William Lai's offer to quit after a major defeat in local elections.